No Cause is Lost if Fools Still Fight
by Ravyn89
Summary: Tom Riddle was on his way to becoming the a great dark wizard when he met Eleanor Cooper. With the entrance of an Italian Dark Lord, Tom may find himself on a side he didn't ever imagine being. And romance might be involved... Tom/Ella Graham/Sam AU
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** No Cause is Lost If Fools Still Fight

**Authors:** Myself and the lovely Lara

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Harry Potter or anything related to it. That means no Tom Riddle, Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, etc. Eleanor Cooper is the property of Lara and I had no part in writing her at all. Everything in Ella's pov was written by the lovely Lara.

**Author's Note:** This is actually an RP Lara and I wrote on Mugglenet Interactive (we are BeaterGirl and FantasyFreak respectively). I loved it very much and thought it would make a great fanfic. I was too lazy to completely rewrite it so I edited it some. I moved around paragraphs and added in some pronoun changes and a few transitionary lines just so the dialogue could somewhat flow together. But that means there are quite a few pov changes, indicated by the "///". Hope nobody is confused.

**Story:** _Tom Riddle was on his way to becoming the greatest Dark Wizard since Grindelwald. By his seventh year he had already murdered his father and set it uncle up for the crime. All he really has to do is wait until he graduates. His goal is to teach at Hogwarts but he does have plans if this fails. He spends most of his time with his Death Eaters - Graham Avery and Samantha Ozment chief among them._

_Then he meet Eleanor Cooper in the Astronomy Tower and finds himself interested in her. He completely planned to forget about her but fate conspired against him. Between her and the emergence of an Italian Dark Wizard, Tom may find himself on a side he never planned to._

Please Read and Review!

Chapter One: Astronomy Tower

It was late. Too late for her to be out of bed, and especially too late for her to be tucked up on the balcony of the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardy. But here she was, watching the sky above her. Eleanor Cooper looked at the sky wistfully, wishing the clouds weren't covering the stars she loved so much. She used to watch them at home, once upon a time, back when she had lived there. They were very different here, but she found them relaxing all the same.

"Lovely night."

Ella jumped. "Yes, I suppose it is, isn't it?"

She looked up at Professor Slughorn, who was leaning against the wall above her. "Don't you think it's a bit late to be out of bed, young lady?"

A sheepish smile crossed her face, and she stood. "I-I'm sorry, Professor. I guess it is time for me to get back…"

Slughorn chuckled. "Ah, Ella m'dear, I won't tell if you won't."

She smiled at her teacher, who for some reason had decided to add her to his favored list of students. She didn't have any famous Wizarding relatives, in fact, she didn't have any Wizarding relatives at all, so she supposed she fell under the 'promising talent' category. She was fairly decent with a wand, but she wasn't anything special. Her best friend, Minerva McGonagall was the prodigy, not her. The girl could transfigure anything if it stayed still long enough. And she was Head Girl.

"Thanks, Professor. It's hard to find any peace in the Common Room right now."

"Right, well, mum's the word." Slughorn gave a little wave and trotted off down the spiral staircase that led directly to the balcony of the tower. Smiling to herself, Ella settled herself once again on the chair she'd pulled away from its telescope, and rested her arms on the balcony rail. She had no idea how she was going to sneak back to the Gryffindor Tower later that night, but she'd figure it out.

However, if she was going to be caught, she hoped the one to catch her was Minny, and not Pringle. Apollyon liked his cane, but Minerva wouldn't dock her too much. Or so she hoped. Her friend was strict.

Ella was not the model student her friend was. She tried, naturally, and she had passed ten of her O.W.L.s, but she had royally botched both Potions and Ancient Runes, a fact that greatly disappointed her. There was so little she could do without a N.E.W.T. in Potions, but she just kept on with the classes she did pass, and hoped what she was meant to do would reveal itself. She had gotten an Outstanding in both Defense Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures, and that was something.

A very loud screech reached her ears, and she watched a rather lovely owl fly by a few feet away from her. Ella's blue eyes followed it as it flew towards the Forbidden Forest and Ogg's hut, which finally dark. Wow. She'd beaten him. It was a habit of hers to watch the Gamekeeper's hut when she was in the Tower, just to see how late he trundled around the grounds. She'd done it ever since she had seen him out one night, a Unicorn at his side. She had never seen a full-grown Unicorn get that close to a grown man before, and she supposed it really showed the man's character. But he'd beat her to bed tonight.

Ella had no earthly idea why she was still awake. She just was. It had happened before, there were just some times you simply can't sleep, she supposed. She settled for resting her head on her arms, and letting her long brown-red hair fall next to her face. It frustrated her sometimes, how it refused to curl into the perfect styles of her friends. It always just hung, or she pinned it up. But that was something she wasn't really worried about at that moment. She just inhaled the night air, letting the stillness engulf her. It was beautiful.

///

There had been no Slug Club meeting that night, which suited Tom Riddle just fine, but he had been hoping to catch Professor Horace Slughorn. But the man appeared not to be in his office. Nor in the dungeons as he sometimes was, preparing potions to show off to younger students. Rather irritated that the Potions Master was missing from his usual haunts, Tom walked through the hallways of Hogwarts.

His Hogwarts, as he called it in his mind. Though that fool Dumbledore also liked to claim it. Actually, now that Tom thought about it, Slughorn liked to claim it as well. And Dippet was Headmaster. It almost seemed like anybody with ambition that walked through these hallowed halls believed they had a right to claim the magnificent school.

But not all of them were descendents from a school founder. Flowing through Tom's veins was the blood of Salazar Slytherin. He alone had been able to open the Chamber of Secrets. That was, until the old man Dumbledore started asking too many questions. Tom had almost felt sorry for Hagrid when the oaf had been expelled and his wand snapped in half. He offered to fix the wand but the stupid half-giant had beat him to it, putting the remains in a silly pink umbrella.

As Head Boy, much beloved by most teachers and most students, Tom had no worries about being caught after hours. It was McGonagall's night to wander around and catch straying students. Those silly students who decided to snog within secret passages after hours. They were less likely to be caught during the day. Then again, Tom had never followed any norms. He much prepared to take the girl that caught his fancy during the day. At night seemed to intimate. Tom was not a romantic.

"Ah, dear boy, why are you not in bed? I thought it was Minerva's night to guard the halls..."

Tom was pulled out of his thoughts by a familiar voice. He sneered at the Potions Master before smoothing it over into a pleasant smile. His more appealing ones. It always soothed over teacher's suspicions.

"It is really? I didn't know. Well, I'll just make this last round then go back to my common room, Professor.

Now that he had found Slughorn, Tom didn't feel like speaking to him. Let the man ponder over Tom's feigned forgetfulness. He swept past the man while he sputtered something incoherent and walked up the stairs into the Astronomy Tower. It was one of the more favorite spots of sick teenage couples. It would fix Tom's mood if he could break up a moment of something that was supposed to be Dumbledore's adored _love_. It was the students that had turned Tom away from romance once and for all.

Instead he found somebody leaning on the balcony. Eleanor Cooper, a Gryffindor, if Tom remembered correctly. And he usually remembered.

"Cooper? What are you doing out of bed after hours?"

///

Ella had drifted so much into her mind that she was all but asleep. The wind moving the trees of the Forest was a lot more soothing than she had expected. So when a rather harsh, but somehow still melodious voice pulled her back from the brink, she started for the second time that night as somebody spoke

She turned around to face the man who had addressed her. It was Tom Riddle. She had seen him before, naturally, they had gone to the same school for Seven years, but she didn't know him very well. She knew he was the one who had caught Rubeus when that Ravenclaw, Myrtle had been killed, but she had not joined his fan club, as so many other girls had. Not that she didn't like him, she just thought the girls went a bit far in their search for the handsome boy's affection. He didn't seem to her like the kind to give it freely.

"Just...nothing, really. Escaping," she answered him. "There are a lot of Gryffindors, and it can get, well,_ loud_ at times. So I come up here occasionally to be rid of it all." Ella smiled slightly. She loved her house-mates, but it was her opinion that Gryffindors were the loudest bunch of people on the planet. Every time they won a Quidditch match, all hell broke loose in their Common Room. Sometimes she joined them, but sometimes, she just wasn't in the mood. Tonight was one of those nights.

///

A Gryffindor who didn't like noise? Tom wasn't sure he had ever met one of those. The celebrations for Quidditch games won started on the field and followed them all the way to their common room. Luckily Tom could usually lose them in the Entrance Hall since the Slytherin dormitories were in the dungeon, opposite of the Gryffindors.

But he supposed not all house mates were cut of the same cloth. After all, it didn't matter what house a girl was from, they all went crazy over Tom. Made it easy when he decided to take one on a date or some such usual teenage boy thing. But Eleanor was not one of these girls. Sure, there were a couple of them around that shot Tom dirty glances. Those were usually Ravenclaws that hated how much attention a Slytherin got from teachers. Knowledge was supposed to be their forte.

Eleanor was different and that was all Tom had to think on the subject.

///

Ella's brow furrowed slightly as she remembered something Minny had said earlier at lunch. The nights she was patrolling, Tom normally wasn't. They alternated with each other and the teachers so they could sleep, do homework, and, well, normal things. Ella was so glad that she was not Head Girl. It sounded like more trouble than it was worth. Plus, when the students hit their third year, they went from being cute and fun to incredibly annoying. They got better around their fifth, but she didn't think she would have the patience to deal with them all until then. Minny seemed made to work with them, and Tom did fairly well.

But Ella had not answered her own question. What _was_ the proud, dark-haired boy up to?

"Well, what about you? I mean, you have more right than I do to be out, but you're not patrolling tonight, are you?" Not that it was any of her business. But she was a bit curious as to why he wasn't reveling in his freedom and full-night's sleep. Or using this time to do the pile of homework that had been assigned to them that day. But then again, Ella hadn't finished hers, either. "And it's Ella, by the way. You probably know that, but better safe than sorry, right?"

///  
Well that put a lid on the excuse Tom had fed Slughorn. That was right, Minerva was friends with the mudblood. At least, Tom recalled Eleanor being muggle born. Muggle blood actually did not bother Tom as much as he made it out he did. It had been the best way to coerce those ambitious Slytherin boys to his side, make them loyal to him. Slytherin had been against the teaching of muggle borns. Grindelwald wanted to put them and muggles below wizards. Tom simply didn't care what happened to them one way or another. He just wanted power.

"I often look for some peace and quiet myself," Tom said, hands behind his back and walking to stand next to Eleanor. "Slytherins are a rowdy bunch themselves. I would think most teenagers were."

///

Ella's eyes followed Tom as he walked to lean next to her on the balcony's stone railing.

"Yes, you look like the type that enjoys things like this." She waved her hand toward the silent and picturesque grounds. "And I agree on the teenager account. I only hope I wasn't as annoying as some that I've seen lately." She shook her head and laughed quietly. "Like that Hornby girl. I hate to say it, but she deserves what poor Myrtle's doing to her now."

She thought of the day she had first decided to use the bathroom Myrtle had died in. She had almost died of fright herself when the girl had strolled through a cubicle wall and yelled at her to get out. "Have you seen her? Poor thing, imagine being so consumed by the taunts of a bully that you choose to stay behind...It's sad."

///

Ah, his first murder. Not of his own hands, of course. But it had been Tom nonetheless. Of course at that moment Dumbledore suspected and the school was threatened to be shut down... No, Tom had to stop if he ever wished of achieving his goal. Hogwarts would be his once and for all. But it would be his whole and full of students to be shaped to his desire.

The ring Tom wore was a testiment to his other murder. It came from his family and though it wasn't from Slytherin, it did well enough to remind Tom of who he really was. Not that fool of a muggle his mother had been infatuated with. That had been a good day, relieving the Riddles of their distasteful lives.

He chose to ignore this line of conversation and instead diverted back to the matter of loud teenagers.

"Minerva is better with them than I am, but I push on..."

Most people would have called Tom a complete liar. He was good with people, he could make them do what he wanted. There wasn't a person in the school that he couldn't get along with if he wished. Even Dumbledore carried on nicely with Tom.

///

Ella turned to look at him closer. It surprised her slightly to hear him say that. It was true, but he didn't strike her as one to acknowledge their faults. His dark eyes showed very little emotion as he said it, so she figured he just saw it as a fact. Which it was, but men were odd about people challenging their competency on any level.

"Minerva is practically perfect, and you're a lot better at handling them than I would be. If I was Head Girl, you'd have a lot of Third Years walking around with Bat-Bogeys attached to their faces, and silencing charms on the lot of them."

///

He chuckled softly at the idea of what Eleanor said she'd do to the poor younger students. Bat Bogeys and silencing charms indeed!

"Sometimes I'm tempted," Tom admitted. Made him sound more human. Which was wrong. Tom was willing to admit that some people had better abilities than him, he'd be a fool not to. Minerva was better with children and better at Transfigurations. Tom would never argue that and feel no shame in admitting it. This admission was a sign of weakness. He needed some way to fix this. "If only to teach them a lesson. Some kids have no respect."

Not quite good enough, but it would work.

///

Ella laughed quietly. "Too true. But even then, I guess you have to command respect in order to get it, and that's something you'll never have to worry about, I daresay." And it was the truth. There was something lurking behind Tom's cool demeanor that almost instantly marked him out as someone not to trifle with.

"Seen the thestrals about?" asked Tom before he could stop himself. Thestrals could only be seen by those that had seen death. In a world at peace Tom shouldn't have a ready excuse as for why he could see them. Perhaps Eleanor would pass the subject by. But she was really good at Care of Magical Creatures and Defense Against the Dark Arts...

///

The question caught Ella off-guard, and she turned to look at the grounds to hide her expression. Thestrals were some of the most fascinating creatures Ella had ever encountered, but she didn't hear them talked of often. _Curiouser and curiouser..._ She looked out into the trees of the Forest, her blue eyes looking at it in the blue-tinged moonlight.

"Not tonight, no," she answered. "But I did see them...Tuesday, I think it was. There's a new one, not one of Ogg's flock. I think it might be wild."

She turned her head to eye Tom. "My brother, by the way. He was sent home injured. Never got better." It wasn't very long ago, but it didn't really bother her to talk about it for some reason. She guessed it was because she knew death was better than what was brewing in Germany.

"Yes... I believe I heard. A muggle, correct?" Tom said this lazily, flipping his black hair back away from his face.

Ella nodded.

"Yes, he was in London, in the Army. Didn't get out of the streets fast enough. I guess they knew he wasn't going to make it, so they sent him home."

London was not somewhere you wanted to be nowadays. The air raids had started, and most everyone had evacuated to the country, but not James. He'd gone and jumped right into the thick of it all. She smiled.

"He was thrilled to 'help the cause', as he said." She shook her head. "He always was a bit mad. And you? Can you see them?"

She should not have asked that. It was none of her business. Ella was always putting her foot in her mouth like that. She debated whether or not to apologize for it, but he spoke before she'd made up her mind.

///

The night air was getting chilly and he was certain Minerva would make her rounds this way eventually. For a moment he thought of the look on her face when she found Tom speaking with her best friend. What a sight that would be!

But the rumors would be killer and Tom wouldn't have it. He was not interested in the female in any regards except for possibly intellectually. Time to cut this short and make his way back to the Slytherin Common Room.

"Come, I'll drop you off at Gryffindor tower so you don't get caught. You have been an amusing late night companion and the chat was interesting while it lasted. I won't have you getting in trouble on my watch. Not tonight."

Tom stepped back from the balcony and held out an arm to show the direction they ought to be going. He waited patiently for Eleanor's reply.

///

Oh. Right, late, and in the Astronomy Tower. And with the Head Boy, on top of that. Ella smiled at Tom as she started dragging her chair back to its original place.

"Does that mean you plan on letting me get in trouble on your watch another night?" She laughed. "However, it would be rather bad if anyone," She paused, "Especially Minerva, caught us up here. _I'd_ get docked, and _you'd_ never hear the end of it." She thought of the horror that would be on her friends face. Come to think of it, _she'd_ never hear the end of it either.

She followed the path Tom was very obviously pointing her in, which was down the stairs and out of the tower. She turned to see if he was behind her, and as she was looking, she heard a rather characteristic sniff reached her ears. _OhnoOhnoOhno..._

"Ella? What in Heaven's name are you doing?"

Biting her lip, Ella turned around slowly to face Minerva, what was obviously a guilty expression on her face. "M-Minny. Hi. I was just...uh, enjoying the view."

Minerva looked at her with wide eyes. Minny and pursed her lips so tightly they all but disappeared. _Uh-oh._ That wasn't a good sign. "Were you...alone?" Just the question Ella had hoped she wouldn't ask.

"I, well, yes, and no..." She looked behind her, her eyes wide, and blushed slightly.

_Brilliant._

///

She certainly was not a suspicious girl. After all, in the dead of the night Tom had let slip some interesting comments. First the thestrals, his feelings for younger students, and then not allowing her to get into trouble this night. He rarely made allowances for anybody, especially not for those outside of his house. Though there were things to respect of each house, Tom supposed. He wasn't going to deny the founders all had their flaws - Slytherin was included in this - but they had been the greatest witches and wizards of their time.

However not all of the students in the house lived up to a fraction of the house's namesake.

Eleanor laughed, dragging Tom out of his thoughts. One of his special skills was to pay attention to a conversation with one part of his mind even while he was consciously thinking of something else. He dragged back the last of her words to the forefront of his mind.

_"Does that mean you plan on letting me get in trouble on your watch another night?"_

Tom was just about to make a comment about how he would follow the rules after today. He wasn't about to give her special treatment. This was simple reward for keeping him occupied one darn night of this torture. As the end of Tom's school days came closer, he was becoming more and more anxious. He wanted to be finished being a student but he didn't want to leave the castle.

His home...

But before Tom could say a word, Minvera caught them just as he and Eleanor had predicted. Though it did not seem as if the head girl was aware that Tom was here. He was about to slip away, leave Eleanor to her own devices, but she looked back at him with a blush on her face. Yes, this would be the last time he saved the Gryffindor girl and she now owed him for this.

"Sorry, Minerva," Tom said, striding into view, hands in his pockets. "I've already caught Miss Cooper. I had a meeting with Slughorn about an essay and he told me he thought he heard students up here. Since I knew you didn't usually make it this far until later, I thought I'd give it a look.

///

Eleanor's brow furrowed. Well, she supposed he hadn't ever answered her question about what it was he was doing out, not directly anyway. But this didn't match up with his attitude in the tower. Then again, he was probably just trying to save his own skin. A very Slytherin-like thing to do, but Ella understood.

Minerva seemed to swallow the story, however. "Well, Tom. Thank you, I suppose." She looked sharply at Ella, and the girl had the sudden desire to disappear. She loved her best friend dearly, but she would always be the first to admit Minny was a bit terrifying. "Slughorn was being rather sly when I spoke to him earlier. He is actually the reason I didn't get here sooner." Ella wondered what Professor Slughorn had said to Minny to distract her from her task, as it was no easy thing to do. Probably sent her on a wild goose chase after an imaginary student. Anyway, it wasn't her business.  
///

"I was about to escort her to the Gryffindor Tower, though you are welcome to take over this tedious task."

He sounded rather snide near the end of his explanation. He was coming up with all sorts of different stories as to why he was wandering the halls this night. Tom was begining to believe none of them were true. In reality he had probably been hoping to find another secret within Hogwarts. Like the Chamber and the room that held forgotten items.

At the same time he didn't want Minerva to take over walking Eleanor to her common room. That would take away the chance for Tom to let her know that she know owed him. And Tom Riddle always exacted a debt, even if he waited ten years to do so. He was patient.

This was the story he told himself, anyways

///

Ouch. Ella looked down, feeling rather like a bug. She knew she wasn't the most interesting person in the world, but it had been a long time since someone had made her feel quite this insignificant. Then again, he was still probably covering his tracks. Tom was smooth, and unnaturally good at…well, lying, mostly. This was the first time she'd noticed it, but there you go. He didn't act at all like he was apprehending a rule-breaker in the tower. They had just been two people who had happened to meet somewhere out of bounds.

Checking a rather odd-looking watch, Minny spoke again. "Well, Tom, if you would like me to escort her back to the Common Room, I suppose I could, but it is on your way, and I still need to check the North Tower." Ella watched Minny as she straightened her glasses. "And Ella," she said, her eyes moving, "I'd like a full explanation of why you were up in that tower later tonight. I for one can't think of one good reason."

Lovely. There was nothing Ella wanted to do less than try to explain to Minerva why she was breaking rules. She wouldn't understand. There was no way. But she just nodded, and said, "So have we decided who gets to march me back, or shall I just go myself? Because I'm definitely a flight risk." She shouldn't have said that last bit probably, judging on the look on Minny's face.

///

Tom gave a low chuckled as Eleanor said _"have we decided who gets to march me back"_. Yes, he did suppose it looked like the head boy and girl fighting over one student. How rediculous. He was glad there was nobody else around to notice. But at the same time it felt good to Tom to laugh over something so insignificant. He wasn't usually one for humor, he supposed.

"Come, Eleanor," forsaking her last name in his moment of humor. "Let's leave Minerva to her job. She's right, it is on my way."

///

Tom chuckled at her small bit of rebellion, a rather high sound that didn't quite match his looks. It was a little unnerving, and she was fairly sure it was the first time she'd ever heard the somber boy show any sign of having a sense of humor. Ella shook off her thoughts on Tom's laugh as he spoke. _  
_  
And with that, he grabbed her arm and began hauling her away from her friend. Ella looked back at Minny, who was looking rather shocked, and smiled apologetically. "Bye," she mouthed before her friend disappeared from view. She wondered what Tom was up to, spiriting her away without so much as a breath and a goodbye for Minerva, when she realized he was talking to her.

With a nod of his head, Tom grabbed Eleanor's arm and started to walk away. He was silent for a moment, waiting until a good moment away from Minerva. She was expecting a full explanation, was she? What an interesting thought. Tom started to think about all the possible stories he could have Eleanor feed the head girl and see how it spread around Hogwarts.

But that would be a poor way of exacting a price out of the girl. Better to warn her of her debt to him and get it when he needed it most. And hopefully when she was less likely to refuse.

However, one other matter to clear up first.

"I'm curious," said Tom. This didn't seem rather dangerous. After all, to be as smart as he was you would have to be naturally curious. And he was, finding all those secrets in Hogwarts. Yes, Tom could admit to some curiosity. "What will you tell Minerva? I know she is a smart girl and won't jump to unnecessary conclusions. But you can understand that we wouldn't want bold rumors wandering around."

That helped, he thought. It wans't just about Tom in this matter. He doubted very much that Eleanor wanted anybody to jump to conclusions about what had been on. It rather had been a chance meeting but very few people would believe that. Though Tom was head boy it would be plainly obvious next morning that no house points had been docked. Perhaps he ought to suggest a fake detention...

///  
Now it was Ella's turn to laugh. "Oh, naturally. Wouldn't want to tarnish your golden reputation." She shrugged, which was odd feeling since her arm was still being gripped by Tom. "Well, I was just planning to tell her the truth, kind of. That I was up there by myself enjoying the view, when you caught me." There was only one flaw in this story, which Tom had to have seen by now. "The only thing I haven't hashed out yet is how I'm going to be er, 'punished' for rule-breaking. Minny will certainly notice if there's no points missing tomorrow, and though I could just ask you to dock some, my fellow House-Mates could very possibly roast me on a spit if you do."

Hmm. That was a pickle. If there were too few, or no points missing from Gryffindor the next day, Minny would get suspicious, and she would probably immediately think Ella was secretly meeting Tom around the school like so many other idiotic teenagers. But if she was docked appropriately, she would suffer at the hands of the Gryffindors, and Tom would too. It would be especially difficult to convince them that she had actually done something worthy of losing around fifty points for. These were the times she wished she had the ablity to think like a Ravenclaw. She wasn't dumb at all, but she still had a problem.

Unless.

"Perhaps, a detention? That would seal our story, and keep you and I both safely in the frying pan, and out of the fire. What do you think?"

///

The answer satisfied Tom to some extent. The truth was always the best route, though he hadn't quite followed through on that this night. Still, Minerva was a smart young woman and would figure something out. Tom did his best to put on the semblance of an ordinary seventeen year old. Perhaps a little more mature and not quite as sociable as others, but a seventeen year old none the less. Seventeen year old boys snuck around with girls of the same age.

That was how it was done, but not by Tom Riddle. He was about to give his suggestion on how to keep people's suspicions at bay when it flew out of Eleanor's mouth. Quite astounding, really. It was a very Slytherin like idea. Perhaps the hat had sorted her incorrectly. Though Tom found that a rather rare occurance. Maybe it was simply because Eleanor was muggle-born. Tom wasn't sure he had ever met one in Slytherin... though they might have been hiding it very well.

"Yes, I was thinking of a detention, as well," sighed Tom, stopping just short of the portrait of the fat lady and taking his hand away from Eleanor's arm. Had he been holding it all this way? "Perhaps Ogg will have something useful for you to do. I'll inquire on it. Most likely it'll be at night. A good excuse for you to be out this late."

He was smiling perhaps just a little too much. Tom tried to tone it down a bit without over doing the change in mood. He thought he had recalled Ogg speaking of a possibly wounded Unicorn, though that was nearly impossible. Unicorns were impervious to most weapons and only some dark magic could really hurt it. Though Tom had read up on the qualities of unicorn's blood. It was distasteful to think about, but he supposed if he were desperate enough...

But, no. That wouldn't be a suitable detention for Eleanor nor a good thing for Tom to be meddling in. Maybe Ogg would have her tend to the supposed wild Thestral that had appeared. Tom didn't really care. He'd talk to Ogg then hand Eleanor over to him and that would be that.

Just the matter of the repayment.

///

Ella nodded as Tom finally gave her arm back to her. She could handle an outdoor detention. She liked Ogg, and the nighttime. She had heard him muttering about having a lot to tend to recently, what with training Hagrid, tending to the Thestral flock, and on top of it all, she vaguely remembered him saying something about an injured Unicorn. That didn't happen often. She knew from experience it took something very fast and very lethal to injure a Unicorn.

"Sounds fine to me. Anything's better than cleaning the Trophy Room." She would never forget the time she'd cursed someone in the corridor for harassing a Gryffindor First year and had been sentenced to non-magical trophy cleanup. It had taken the better part of her Saturday, and by the time she had finished, her hands were so sore she got marked down on her homework because she couldn't hold her quill properly.

"I do have to tell you, Cooper," Tom said, frowning now and noticing his switch back to her last name. "I don't give out favors lightly. I'll expect something in return. Not now. Don't worry, it will only be what is in your limits to give but it might not be until ten years from now. Agree, Cooper, or this whole arrangement is off and I will dock points from Gryffindor."

Ah, yes, That felt more like himself. Very good, Tom Riddle. Very good, Lord Voldemort...

///

She felt her eyebrows raise almost into her hairline. "Really, now?" Eleanor replied, a rather skeptical look on her face. She didn't know what to think about that. It was a very Slytherin thing to do, but it still confused her how formal he was about it. It sounded like he'd memorized the little speech, and she had a feeling he had a collection of favors waiting to be returned. It was odd to her, but it didn't worry her too much. It seemed to just be a habit. A rather odd, selfish habit, but nothing too unbelievable. "Well, I suppose it's only fair. But…" She looked at him again, studying his serious face. "I don't know what you mean by it. I don't exactly have a lot to give, do I?"

///

Yes, Tom could supposed cleaning the Trophy Room would be a bore. Plus it had to be a sore reminder that he had made her do it when she ended up polishing the plaque he had been given for catching Hagrid. Tom was being extra kind to the girl. Perhaps too much. But he did exact her oath from her.

"Everybody has their usefulness," Tom indicated. He did not add his thoughts that some were more so than others. Instead he continued, "Even muggles are useful, despite what most Slytherins believe."

Well, what an interesting thing to let slip. Saved one nasty comment that might have upset Eleanor and inserted one that was possibly dangerous to Tom's reputation. No doubt Eleanor would keep it to herself, Tom could never be certain. However he had aired out quite a few pent of thoughts this evening.

Ella looked up at the snoozing Fat Lady. "Er, hello? Venomous Tentacula," She said rather loudly. The Fat Lady grumbled a bit and swung open. Ella grabbed her frame and turned her attention once again to Tom. He was really an odd character. At different times he almost seemed to be another person. It fascinated her.

"Well, goodnight, Tom. I won't forget you helping me, nor will I forget our last little conversation. I do tend to keep my word, you don't have to worry." She smiled a bit, and disappeared through the Portrait Hole, closing it behind her.

She had a lot to occupy her mind that night, but somehow she managed to sleep after her little excursion, which was more than she could say about before it.

///  
Tom bowed goodnight in return before turning on the spot and walking away. He was certain his mind would turn to other things immediately. Perhaps his course work, a fun distraction for his mind. Or even what secrets Hogwarts was still keeping from him. Possibly even the dreaded question of what he would do once he graduated.

Instead he found himself pondering Eleanor. How would he exact his debt from her? He had gotten a few from some of his followers over the past seven years. Some teachers had even owed him a favor and had paid up rather quickly. Unfortunately Tom was more indebted with Dumbledore than the Transfiguration Professor was with him. More the pity. And Dippet had done a favor or two for Tom that needed to be repaid.

Eleanor would take some thought. He wasn't exactly sure what the girl was good at, though he knew she had to be good at something. Certainly not potions as she wasn't in Tom's NEWT class. And Minerva was the expert at Transfiguration. Plus it wasn't as if Tom didn't excel at any subject he wanted to.

Perhaps the favor would have to do with her being a Gryffindor. An interesting thought. Or her connection to muggles. After all, she was muggle-born and Tom didn't think anybody that owed him favors was so closely related to their non magical brethren.

It would wait, though. Tomorrow Tom would talk to Ogg about her detention and be done thinking about her until he needed her favor. That was the way the world was supposed to work. When Lord Voldemort would be in power he would have no need to think of anyone but himself and those that he knew would be useful for his purposes.

Time enough for that later. Voldemort faded to the background and he simply became Tom, the Slytherin king, the student lord of Hogwarts. Soon these things would be a reality but for now he would pretend to be a little less than he was.

And he wondered if Eleanor fit at all into that future where Lord Voldemort won out over the wizarding world?

* * *

Yes, it is rather long. About 6,500 words for one chapter. 13 pages on a word document. I hope the dialogue flowed well. In an RP we simply repeated certain lines, had our character respond, then move on to later events. I thought I'd try to give it more of a fanfic approach so you don't have to continually read repeat dialogue and so certain actions lines up chronologically. Expect more as soon as I can get my lazy self to edit the next chain of events...


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Again I remind people that are actually reading this that it's written from an RP, practically word for word I've simply edited things about so it flows somewhat better. That means there are quite a few pov changes. This chapter we get the introduction of another character that I had at first created simply for a scene in this chapter but later ended up becoming important to the plot. Go figure. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Anything you found in the Harry Potter books does not belong to us. Eleanor Cooper belongs to the imagination of Lara who gave permission for me to post her words on this website. Samantha Ozment is my character and I would appreciate you not using her even if she does seem rather mary-sue at first.

Chapter Two: Transfiguration

Breakfast was an interesting affair. Eleanor sat uncomfortably next to Minny as her friend grilled her about the night before. Ella had avoided the conversation as long as she possibly could, that morning she'd changed, organized her book bag, brushed her teeth, and fiddled in a locked bathroom until she had exactly the minimum amount of time to eat breakfast before rushing straight down to the Great Hall. But she couldn't avoid the inevitable forever.

"So how long were you up there with him?"

Ella rolled her eyes. "Minny, I was up there by myself. He caught me. I don't consider that a social gathering. A few minutes. Long enough for him to give me detention." Ella took a bite of her toast, and stood. "We're going to be late for Transfiguration. You know all of what happened now, so can we just leave it?"

Minerva still looked slightly suspicious, but she agreed. "Sorry. I suppose I did make a rather big deal out of nothing didn't I?" Ella shook her head as they exited the Great Hall and began the trek up the stairs to the Transfiguration classroom.

She wasn't the best liar. And it was hard not to tell her best friend exactly what happened, especially when it wasn't really a big eal. They had just talked, and enjoyed the view for what, ten minutes? At most? But he was right, if anyone heard, it would explode out of proportion, and next thing she knew, she'd be secretly married to him or something. That was the think about Hogwarts. There was only one thing in the castle that was greater in quantity than magic, and that was gossip. She supposed it had something to do with masses of teenagers living under the same roof. Highly combustible.

What do you suppose we're working on today?" Minerva's question caught Ella attention. She looked at her friend, her eyebrows raised.

"You mean, you actually don't know?" she laughed at her friend's expression. "I'm not saying I know, but I should record this date in history: The Day Minerva McGonagall Didn't Know Something about Transfiguration. It had potential to be a holiday."

Minerva scowled. "It's just the schedule, Ella. And besides, I've never actually claimed to know everything, have I?"

Ella shook her head, "No. But everyone knows you do anyway."

As they entered the classroom, they both smiled at Professor Dumbledore. Ella thought he was brilliant, but a bit mad. She never mentioned the mad part around Minny, because her friend simply worshiped him.

"Good morning, Professor," Ella said, and she settled in one of the two person desks that covered the room. The room was slowly filling up with people, and as Minny was about to sit next to Ella, her name was called.

"Minerva, Minny!" The girl turned around to face a very sheepish-looking boy. "Minny, could-could you help me? I've just..." he trailed off, looking embarrassed.

Minerva gave him a small smile. "Still stuck on your wand movement?" He looked up at her like she was a goddess, and nodded. "Well Derrick, how about we partner up today, and I'll see what it is you're doing wrong." She smiled at the boy, who looked like he'd just gotten out of an execution.

Ella sighed as they walked a few feet away to another desk. Minerva was always doing that. She was practically Dumbledore's assistant, and people came to her for help almost as much as they went to the kindly-looking wizard who was currently watching the class with a cheerful expression. But it left Eleanor without a partner often as well. Ah well. Someone turned up. They sort of had to, as there was nowhere else for them to sit. Ella pulled her Transfiguration textbook out of her bag, along with her wand, quill and parchment before resting her head on the desk and closing her eyes. She felt like she hadn't slept at all.

The night before, she had slept, that much she knew had to be true, but her dreams were so strange she couldn't seem to shake them. Pale hands on her arms, black eyes, and a familiar face had filled her mind. Tom was always there, in the dark shadow of the forest, and she had found him. But far from the real Riddle, the Tom in her dream had backed her up against a tree and kissed her senseless, a thought which now seemed ludicrous in the comfortable, dusty classroom she was in now. The Tom in her dreams wanted to be near her, and would smile when she saw him. But his eyes were always the eyes of something dangerous. It was ridiculous for her to be dwelling on something so unrealistic, but it had gotten her thinking very hard about the Head Boy she barely knew. She knew she was becoming a bit too fascinated with him, but he was a very interesting person, worthy of contemplation.

Right?

///

As usual Tom was the first one up. He slipped on his usual robes, wrinkleless and without a stain as usual. His Head Boy badge was pinned on just right, his ring slipped onto the pointer finger of his left hand. Feeling satisfied, he left the Slytherin common room without a soul noticing and slipped out to the castle grounds.

Ogg was already up and bustling, but that didn't surprise Tom. He sometimes wasn't sure if the groundskeeper ever really slept. Always up at the crack of dawn and sometimes not getting to sleep until well past dusk. Still, Tom was glad he had gotten up so early as it seemed as Ogg was getting read for a trip into the forest.

"Ogg, I need to know if you have a task fit for a detention," Tom said, jumping straight to the point. No point dallying any further after it had taken him so long to find Ogg. Tom was sure people were already sitting down to breakfast.

"Yeah, I probably got a thing or two..." said Ogg, trailing off as he eyed Tom. "Who be the student, Tom?"

It actually bothered Tom to be called by his first name by Ogg. He'd always had this feeling that the gamekeeper knew some power in names. But as long as he wasn't called Tom, Voldemort, they would be fine. He would only be Tom for a little while longer anyways.

"Eleanor Cooper," Tom said brusquely. "I'll have Dumbledore send down the papers and leave it at that. Thank you for your time."

"Eh," was all Ogg said as Tom walked away and back to the castle. He frowned as he noticed the Great Hall almost completely empty. He had Transfiguration next, with Dumbledore the head of Gryffindor house. That would mean Tom would be able to be rid of the trouble of thinking of Eleanor consciously once and for all.

The only problem was he was sure to be late. So Tom didn't run, no use being in a hurry. He grabbed his stashed bag in the Entrance Hall and walked up the stairs all the way to the Transfiguration classroom. He opened the door just as Dumbledore was saying something. Tom walked in and closed the door before facing the professor.

"Sorry I'm late."

That was all he was going to say on the matter until after class. No point in drawing attention to anything. But as Tom's eyes wandered over the class he saw that everybody had come to the lesson. Very few people missed Dumbledore's class and Tom was usually early, taking one of the back seats.

The only seat open was the one by Eleanor. Tom frowned, looking for Minerva, and found the witch next to Derreck. No doubt helping him out again. No matter, nothing was going on between Tom and Eleanor.

Tom strode over the seat without a second glance to Eleanor, sliding into the chair as if nobody else was sitting next to him. He didn't need a second glance to tell him most of the details around him. He had already seen that Eleanor looked tired and that people's eyes were following him. That a certain Slytherin girl was staring at the both of them intently, possibly jealously.

If nothing else Dumbledore's glittering blue eyes were taking in the pair, a small smile on his face as he launched into a lecture about a spell that would undoubtedly be on their NEWTs. More importantly, it needed to be said silently. Not a problem for Voldemort. Tom, on the other hand, was more concerned with the people in the room and less on the magic he really ought to have been learning...

///

Dumbledore had started his lesson, and still Ella had no partner. She looked around the room, trying to see who was missing. All of her house was there, all of the Ravenclaws were sitting in the front row, as usual, but she didn't know the Hufflepuffs or the Slytherins well enough to judge...Ah. That's who was missing. She scanned the room once more for Tom, and he was definitely not in the room. She turned towards the front to the classroom again, and tried to listen to what Dumbledore was saying. But at that moment, the door swung open, and a voice reached her ears. Her guess had been right.

It was Tom Riddle, amazingly late for class and apologizing to Dumbledore about it.

Ella looked up, and a small smile touched her lips as Tom slid smoothly into the seat next to her, ignoring her completely. She watched as his eyes scanned the room, looking at the rest of the students. He stopped at one in particular, and Eleanor looked around inconspicuously to see a Slytherin girl staring at her with a look very close to hatred. Or was it jealousy? Ella shook her head in disbelief. Honestly, when were they going to give up on him? It was so painfully obvious he wasn't interested.

"Human Transfiguration is very difficult to do, especially on yourself. So, that being said, you will be practicing on you partner. Not to worry," Dumbledore said as he caught the look on Minerva's face, "I will be watching most carefully to make sure there will be no lasting damage." Ella bet Minny was wishing she'd let Derrick fend for himself in this particular lesson. "Turn you textbooks to page three hundred and twenty-two, if you would, and there you will find all the necessary information to perform this spell."

As the class bustled into action, Ella whispered to Tom, "Good morning to you too, Tom." She let her smile grow a bit wider.

As she found the page Dumbledore had mentioned, her eyes widened. "Oh no. I do not want to be responsible for this if it goes wrong." The illustration on the page showed a man going through the various stages of being Transfigured into a cat. "I apologize in advance for this." She closed her eyes. "I did not get enough sleep for this. No way." But she began reading the long passage on the spell anyway. It wasn't very complicated, but it took a lot of concentration and control. And on top of it all, Dumbledore had said they had to do it _silently?_

She was doomed. Doomed to turn the Head Boy, and coincidentally, her awkward acquaintance, into a mutated cat. What a day this was going to be.

///

Human transfiguration? Tom wasn't sure what Dumbledore was getting at but he was certain this was something learned later on. The old fool thought himself all powerful if he thought he could keep eighteen students from turning each other into grotesque human-animals. Ridiculous.

He flipped to the section of his textbook that he was supposed to be reading and then yawned. Tom rarely yawned but he had stayed up rather late last night and gotten up a bit too early. He supposed even Dark Lords were allowed to be tired now and again and Tom still only a seventeen year old student. Yes, he could allow a yawn. Besides, it might have been a yawn of boredom. After all, he had read the entire textbook before. He had skimmed over this section, not quite sure how human transfiguration would help him in his conquest.

Though turning all the muggles of the world into sheep, or something, might be useful. Maybe some pigs and cows as well. They'd never run out of pork or beef that way. Tom was a big fan of his steaks.

Tom was drawn out of his unnerving change of direction in his brain by Eleanor's moan.

"Oh, don't worry," said Tom, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Dumbledore is all powerful."

///

Ella looked at Tom, her eyes wide. "That's all very well for him, but I'm worried about _me_ doing something to _you. _Even if Dumbledore can fix it. It's the principle of the thing, if you know what I mean." She shook her head, causing a bit of her hair to fall out of its bun. "I also am worried about_ them._" She inclined her head towards the Slytherin girls, who were all sitting near one another. "And what they would do to me if I...er, fail."

She was scared of hurting him, too. She didn't think she could cause any serious damage, but what would happen if something went wrong, and he got injured? She'd never forgive herself if she hurt him. But that could go for practically anyone she hurt. She didn't like to be the reason anyone was in pain. Ever. Ella looked down at her textbook, her still worried eyes scanning the page for the list of appropriate animals for the spell. It seemed to be solely mammals, at a glance. She read it closely, and decided against anything too small. No mice, or any kind of rodent, they ran too fast. Something carnivorous, probably, they were braver...Cat? Wouldn't be too bad. Perhaps that would work. The last thing she wanted to do is end up looking for Tom underneath desks.

///  
Tom went back to trying to read the section and before long the Voldemort part of his mind had is all worked out. Yes, it would be simple enough for Tom's poor teenager magic to catch up to the dark lord in his mind. There was potential here. And maybe everybody still staring at the back of his head would forgive Tom when he turned Eleanor into a frog or something along those lines.

No, not a frog. Then there would be jokes about how he had to kiss her to turn her back. He really must not have gotten much sleep if his mind was floating back to silly fairy tales. He would turn her into a squirrel. That seemed simple enough.

"Alright," Tom sighed, getting to his feet. They were among the first to start into the practicing. Minerva appeared to be helping Derreck struggle through _reading_ the section. Surely the woman would get frustrated with these kids at some point. Not everybody could be like Dumbledore. It had to get to you or you were mental! "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

///

Eleanor looked up from her book. Tom was being fairly calm about it all. Ella supposed Dumbledore knew what his students were capable of, and if he thought they could do it, maybe they could. Ella wasn't terrible at Transfiguration. The silent spells on the other hand...But she had to do it, and it was all about learning, right? Mistakes were accepted in a classroom, right? Ella was slightly worried about being turned into something herself, but she knew Tom was more than capable of doing a good job. Finally, she nodded at Tom.

"Would-would you like to go first? I mean, perform the spell first." There was a part of her that was terrified of going first, because she was next to positive she was going to botch it somehow. And for some reason, it made her feel better to go last. It made no sense, but Eleanor's mind often worked in a way that didn't even make sense to her most of the time.

///

Eleanor was unnecessarily nervous. The worse she would do was give him fur or give him a rat nose. Really nothing Tom was worried about. As long as she stuck with a mammal it shouldn't be painful in the least. Still, Tom led them to a corner where - hopefully - there would be no audience. By the time Eleanor had nervously followed Tom, others were pairing up. Derek seemed to have finished reading rather more quickly with Minerva's help.

Tom frowned. Not at the idea of going first - he would have suggested it - but because Eleanor was continuing to worry. For some reason it concerned him and he cast around for something to soothe her troubled mind. Unfortunately, Tom had not spent as much attention toward the girl during Transfiguration. He had usually timed practice so that he would be the guinea pig at the same time Minerva was practicing. She had stuck out as the strongest student.

But Divination had not been Tom's strong suit and he could not have foreseen this. So though he had vague impressions of Eleanor, he had never paid close attention. Until now. And now he was spending too much of his conscious attention upon her. Degrading, really, if his thoughts ever got out. Instead he heaved a sigh and tried a kind smile.

"Yes, that'll work perfectly," said Tom, telling himself that he was calming her because he didn't want her to mess up unnecessarily. "That way I can help you out since I'll have known how it works. Are you prepared?"

///

Ella stood, grabbed her book and wand, and followed Tom to a corner of the room as the rest of the students started doing the same. She dropped her book in the corner, and turned to face him. She had her wand in her hand still, and she ran her finger up and down the grip nervously. She looked at Tom's face, wondering if it would be…hairier in a half-hours time. She didn't want to think about it.

Which was probably a good thing, because at that moment, Tom smiled at her. It was bit awkward, like he didn't do it genuinely often, but still warm enough for Ella to lose her train of though slightly. She had to admit, with his dark hair and eyes, and his pale skin, he was attractive. _  
_  
She smiled at him a bit sheepishly. "Yeah, that would be great. Help is good." She set her wand down on top of her book, and watched it for a second to make sure it wasn't going to roll away and set fire to a desk or something. As she straightened, she thought about how calm she was about being turned into an animal. Odd, really, that she was utterly unfazed.

Tom pulled his yew wand out of the inside pocket of his robes. He was very fond of his wand. It was a yellow white wood, completely smooth, with a phoenix feather. It had to be special, Tom hadn't heard of any other student having a wand with a phoenix feather core. It was always with him, Tom would never let it go.

"I'm going to try turning you into a chipmunk," Tom explained, changing his choice at the last instance. He liked chipmunks more than squirrels. Don't ask why, the future Dark Lord had a soft spot for the tree dwellers with the tiny tails and the dark lines down their back. "Hopefully it won't take me long."

That said, he thought the incantation Dumbledore had taught, and forced all his concentration into turning Eleanor into a chipmunk.

///

Ella looked at him, and burst out laughing. "A chipmunk?" She put her face in her hands. "Oh, that's brilliant. At least I'll be cute, huh?"

But she calmed as he started performing the spell, a very serious look on his face…

///

A few gazes turned toward the pair as Eleanor burst out laughing. Tom stood coolly, allowing her to calm down. It was usually better if you didn't transfigure someone in a strong emotional state. Which was why he tried to calm her down earlier. And now he just needed to wait for her to stop laughing.

"Indeed..." Once sure the scene was set, Tom transfigured Eleanor quite flawlessly.  
///

Woah. Ella's thoughts were drawn to the funny feeling that started in her gut and traveled over her body like warm water…she was shrinking, and growing fur, her teeth narrowed and elongated, and she felt a tail begin to grow. A little one, but definitely a tail.

And then it was, look. See. Smell. Man. Fear. The chipmunk Ella looked up at the positively gargantuan creature standing before her. She was scared. But curious…slowly, she crept toward the monster, her tail shaking slightly. She looked up, way up and sniffed. The smells that met her nose…they were so many, and very powerful. And then the giant waved his stick, and she felt herself growing, her mind becoming less…animal, and suddenly, Ella was back, and practically standing on Tom's toes. There was a lot less room between them now that she was a million times bigger.  
///

Tom expected the quivering lump to attempt to run away, reading to turn her back. Instead she started toward him. Interesting. Confusing, certainly. But interesting none the less. Tom thought the counter spell, waving his wand.

He had anticipated that closeness in animal and human form would be even closer once Eleanor was also human. Though she was almost standing on his feet they weren't quite touching. His wand hand hovered just millimeters from her arm, her could feel her breath on his face, couldn't see her smile unless he took his gaze away from her eyes.

///  
Her mouth was open slightly, and it took her a while to gather her thoughts enough to step back for him. "You're a lot bigger to a chipmunk," she said quietly. And then Ella smiled.

///

Tom wasn't going to move first. He decided that the instant he realized they would be that close. That would show a weakness. Merlin's beard, he had been closer to girls before and it hadn't bothered him! It would show undue embarrassment to step away, to turn away from those eyes...

"Well done, Tom," Dumbledore said, clapping him on the shoulder and dragging Tom an inch or two away from Eleanor. "Twenty points for Slytherin and twenty to Gryffindor."  
///

Ella was half upset, half grateful that Dumbledore dragged Tom away a couple steps. Going from furry animal to too close to the Wizard who turned you into said furry animal were two equally disorienting things. She didn't feel like doing it again anytime soon. It also, thankfully broke their eye contact, something that desperately had to happen. There was something slightly dangerous lurking in the darkness there that fascinated her.

///  
Dumbledore pat Tom's shoulder twice then walked away, going about to help other students. It took Tom only a moment to realize why Gryffindor had gained points as well. Of course. Minerva. Why not? Dumbledore didn't choose favorites and he wouldn't want to look like he was out doing someone of his own house for Tom Riddle.

And Dumbledore had been able to save Tom from... whatever had been going. And now he owed the old fool another favor. Just great.

"Guess it's your turn," Tom said a little gruffly, turning back to Eleanor.

///

Oh, that.

Eleanor shook her head, trying to clear it of the chipmunk cobwebs. Slowly a bit of her nerves returned, but she shoved them in a drawer at the corner of her mind. She knew how the spell was supposed to feel, she (sort of) saw how it was supposed to be preformed. She could do this. She hoped. She turned around and picked up her wand. Its weight was comforting in her hands, and she looked at Tom.

"Right. So," she thought about it for a while, and a bit of a grin spread across her face as she though of what she was going to Transfigure him into. "Let's see if you make a good marmot, shall we?"

Less cute than a chipmunk, but she'd always been fascinated by them. Biting her lip, she pointed her wand at Tom, and began concentrating on what she needed to perform the spell correctly. It was going to be hard, and she hoped she could do it well.

///

Tom choked on air at the words, giving Eleanor a look to make her repeat that she was serious. And she was. So very serious. So much so that Tom had no need to give her a word of advice. In no time at all he started to feel furry and smaller and...

There wasn't enough sun. He felt rather slow. He looked up. Somebody was standing over him. Yes, he liked those eyes. This wasn't right though. He was supposed to be in the sun...  
///

Ella looked down at the very disoriented marmot that was sitting where Tom had been moments ago. She sighed in relief as she watched him blink up at her. All seemed well. There was no trace of humanity left on the animal, judging by appearances, which she hoped meant she had done the spell right. Ella brushed a bit of hair behind her ear, before concentrating once more on the still befuddled looking animal. She pointed her wand at it and preformed the counter spell.

///  
Disoriented, Tom held his head as Eleanor changed him back. His eyes hurt from the change, like they had needed to change from hard to soft to hard all over again. But he had assured Eleanor that nothing could go wrong so he gave her a weak grin despite his headache.  
///

What happened next was like watching a tree growing in seconds. Tom reappeared, his eyes blinking like he was in pain. She took a step toward him in concern, ready to grab him if he fell over. He looked a little dizzy. Or disoriented. A knot twisted in her stomach. "Are-are you okay? Did I do something wrong?" Ella felt the knot slowly tighten until Tom smiled weakly. It wasn't much, and she could see the effort it took, but it alleviated a bit of her worry.

///  
"Well done," Tom said, the pounding in his forehead slowly fading away. "I barely remembered who I was. That means you did it correctly."

///

She smiled at him. "It's odd to think you're a fuzzy woodland creature, isn't it?" Ella turned and grabbed her textbook, and Tom's arm, and walked back to their desk. She turned to face him again. "However, judging by the look on your face, it did not go as smoothly as yours did. Sit." She gestured to the chair. "We've both done the spell already, and we're practically finished in here, so you have no good reason not to." Eleanor studied him. He did look better than he had a few seconds ago, but she was just the kind of person who wanted to make sure all was well before announcing herself done. She plopped her book on the desk and sat, drumming her fingers on its surface.

She highly doubted he would actually listen to her and sit, even though students were slowly moving back, finished with their spells. Dumbledore was occupied in a corner with what looked like a feathered woman in Hufflepuff robes. Ella raised her eyebrows as she watched him de-feather the girl.

"I'm glad I didn't go with the bird idea. That looks uncomfortable." As much as she loved birds, and the idea of them, she didn't fancy being turned into one, or attempting to get the subtleties of a bird skeleton right on another. Hollowing out bones was hard, as the panicky girl next to Bird Girl was discovering. Ella watched, fascinated as the last of the feathers fell off, and Dumbledore turned around to face his students, which were nearly all finished with their spells.

"Well then, that went with quite a bit less trouble than I thought. You are all progressing quite well. For you homework tonight, I would like a roll of parchment," here he smiled at the two girls he had just finished helping, "On the differences between Transfiguring humans to birds or reptiles, as opposed to mammals." Dumbledore looked at his watch, a small smile showing beneath his auburn beard. "Good gracious, how time flies when one is an animal. Class is dismissed."

///

Eleanor made Tom sit back at their desk and he did so gladly. His eyes didn't wander around the classroom but he did look at the poor Hufflepuff girl at Eleanor's words. Yes, hallowed out bones would be difficult to transfigure. Tom wondered what it would be like to be a reptile, feel flesh turn into scales. Lost limps and simply become one long slender being as a snake.

Tom could already speak parseltounge, something that only Dumbledore knew about. Once again Tom was glad that nobody had figured out the thing attacking the school a few years back was a basilisk. Dumbledore would have known immediately that it had been of Tom's doing.

His thoughts were brought back to reality as Dumbledore assigned homework. Only a roll of parchment? Teachers were getting soft. Or just the old man. Their defense against the dark arts teacher usually assigned at least two if not three. And Tom could just see in Minerva's eyes that she believed she could write at least twice as much as Dumbledore was asking for.

Still, some students groaned at the fact that more course work would be added. The got to their feet and walked out of the classroom, muttering to themselves. Tom reached out and touched Eleanor's arm briefly, trying to tell her with his eyes to stay put as he got to his feet and walked to the desk.  
///

Eleanor began re-packing her bag, thankful that Dumbledore had only assigned one roll. She knew she could fill that fairly easily. She was more worried about the Charms essay that was due Monday. She began to stand up when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Ella looked up, confused, into the face of Tom, who was obviously telling her to stay put for a bit. She nodded to him, and he began walking to the front of the classroom. But Ella felt his hand still of her shoulder, like it had burned her.

///  
"Tommy!" said a Slytherin girl, slinking up to him. "I don't suppose you could help me with my homework..." She fluttered her eyelashes, a seductive smile on her face. Tom looked down at her in disgust.  
///

_Tommy? _Eleanor snorted. What an idiot. She looked disdainfully at the simpering girl trying to hold Tom's attention. She wasn't ugly, but her attitude and obvious pleas for his attention made her look ridiculous and desperate. Then the Slytherin _fluttered her eyelashes_. Ella resisted the urge to vomit. She didn't understand why girls threw themselves at men like that. It as degrading, and they rarely ever succeeded with any level of permanence. You may get a good snog, but that was it. Eleanor had never had to resist the urge to act that way. She wasn't cut out to be a flirt.

"Some other time, perhaps, Samantha," Tom said coldly. "I have something I need to speak to Professor Dumbledore about."

The flirty look upon her face darkened and she spun around and stomped away. Women. Tom turned his attention back to Dumbledore who was sitting down behind his desk just as the last students were leaving.  
///

Ella watched in mild amusement as the girl's simpering smile turned sour. She bit her lip to hide her amusement. She wasn't entirely sure why she found it so funny, but she did. She also was beginning to be curious about what Tom was going to Dumbledore for. Ella's eye followed his back until he reached the Professor.

///  
"Eleanor owes me a detention," Tom said. "I've already spoke to Ogg who says he is sure he can figure something for her to do. I just need you to write up the papers."

///

Ella saw Dumbledore's blue eyes flash in her direction, then back to Tom's face. His eyes fascinated Ella. They were at the same time both amused and searching, and she wondered what tom's face looked like as Dumbledore fixed him with those eyes.

"Really? Miss Cooper has little history of bending the rules," Ella blushed. That was because when she did, she rarely got caught.

///

Perhaps because fools like Dumbledore didn't know where the look, Tom found himself thinking. Very few people risked the Astronomy Tower alone unless they knew how to not get caught. Plus teachers like Slughorn were bound to give their favorite students special treatment. Tom was pretty certain he had spotted Eleanor at a Slug Club meeting or two now that he thought on it.

///

"But to answer you question, Tom," He waved his wand and two pieces of parchment appeared, covered in writing. "Here you are. Oh, and Tom? There is a bit of a risk in the forest of late, so I am going to have to ask you to accompany Eleanor. Ogg is a very capable man, but if a problem arises, it would be safest with three people able to perform magic."

Tom wasn't going to like that, Ella already knew. She began busying herself again with her book bag, and waited to see if he would come back over to her. She shot a glance at Minerva, who was standing nearby, and mouthed, "I'll catch up, go!" Minny took the hint and walked out of the classroom, a confused and slightly suspicious look on her face." Eleanor sighed, and her head found its way back onto the desk. _Well, at least he's not permanently hairy or something. That should make things a little easier...I hope._

///

Dumbledore's words were like a hard hit to the chest. A hiss escaped Tom and his eyes flashed dangerously in the direction of Eleanor. And at first he wasn't sure what part had angered him more. That there would be risk in the forest that might endanger Eleanor or that Dumbledore was sending Tom to baby-sit the young woman that he wanted to just be able to forget about after today.

Or he thought he wanted to forget about her.

No, Tom Riddle most certainly was going to forget about the young Gryffindor girl that was starting to become more trouble than she was worth. A whole night in the forest protecting Eleanor? The Dark Lord in him scoffed at it. He didn't protect anybody but himself!

And yet... Tom pushed the thoughts away and slammed his hands on Dumbledore's desk. He very rarely let his emotions out like this around Dumbledore after the first day they had met. The day Tom had let out far too many secrets so that the old man before suspicious of him.

"I don't have time to be traipsing around in the wood," Tom growled. "If you're so worried about Cooper then send somebody else who owes a Detention! Not me..."  
///

When Tom literally hissed at Dumbledore's words, Ella jumped. She glanced up at him, and the look he sent her was truly frightening. He looked fearsome, like he was going to rip something apart. She didn't know what about the Professors words bothered him so much, and why his anger was directed at her.

Ella could hear Tom hissing at Dumbledore, and she didn't quite understand why. The tone of his voice was so...furious, almost venomous. She would understand if he was frustrated about missing time to do homework, but she wondered if it was more. If it was her he really had the problem with. She bit her lip and furrowed her brows, not that he could see because she still had her head on her arms. She didn't quite understand the change from the Tom that had just turned her into a chipmunk, and the Tom she was seeing now.

///  
"Oh, come now Tom," said Dumbledore calmly, looking over his half moon spectacles at Tom. As always he had that feeling that Dumbledore could see the Voldemort inside him. The Dark Lord squirmed inside. "We both know that you spend quite some time in the Forbidden Forest. Why not make yourself useful to Miss Cooper?"  
///

She couldn't do this much longer. If Tom didn't want to go, why should he? He didn't earn a detention. He shouldn't have to go with her. She raised her head and opened her mouth to say something. "I don't-"

///  
"I'm sure Eleanor can take care of herself quite well," Tom sniffed, straightening up and pulling back his center of calm. But at the use of Eleanor's name a light shone in Dumbledore's eyes.

"Tom, this is no longer a request," Dumbledore said, holding out the piece of parchment. "Don't make me talk to Slughorn."

Tom's eyes smoldered and he snatched the parchment and went back to the desk to clear up his things. He didn't look at Eleanor. In fact, he tried to hide the anger from her.

///

Ouch. Eleanor saw Tom stiffen, and he turned slowly away from Dumbledore to face Ella, and the rest of the now-empty classroom. He walked toward the desk, and began picking up his things, not acknowledging her existence. He looked like he was trying desperately to control his emotions, and it made Eleanor think about this person she had begun to get to know. There was so much that she didn't know about him, like the fact Dumbledore said he spent time in the Forest. And Dumbledore knew about it. Knew and didn't punish him. It was an interesting thing.

Ella stood and put her hand on his arm. "I'll…I'll see you later, Tom," she said softly. She wanted to give him time to breathe, "Lunch, okay?" She shouldered her bag and walked out into the hallway. She had Care of Magical Creatures next, and she needed to get out to the grounds quickly so she wasn't late.

///

Tom jumped as Eleanor placed a hand on his arm. He heard her speak and the sound of her voice calmed the writhing snake in his chest. He caught only the word "lunch" before she was gone. Numbly Tom followed her out of the classroom and down the stairs all the way to the Entrance Hall. His footsteps were quick but silent, his eyes focused on the back of her head the entire way.

This was getting complicated. A debt shouldn't be complicated for Tom Riddle. He ought to be able to get her promise to repay him and then forget about her until the time he called on his debt. Yet she kept popping up, kept near him, kept being a part of his life for some reason or another. Tom had never been certain he believed in fate or destiny. But something kept bringing the two - Riddle and Cooper - together for a reason.

Once at the Entrance hall Tom turned on his heel and made his way back upstairs and to Charms. He would be late. His first time. But he had been late to Transfiguration. That had turned out interesting. Maybe Charms would too... and maybe it would counteract the interesting that was plaguing his mind.

* * *

This was a fun chapter. Lara and I had fun with it for ages. Lord Voldemort likes chipmunks and is a yellow bellied marmot *laughs* Yes, I think that is quite evil, don't you? But as you might have noticed my Tom isn't quite Voldemort. He sort of plays in this inbetween state where he sometimes is Voldemort and sometimes isn't. This is because I don't think Tom was truely evil to start out with and Eleanor has caught him at his most vulnerable state of flux, while he debates between his two sides. That's my reasoning behind this anyways.

Read and Review!


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Hello there! This is Lara, updatig the lovely joint fic that is...this! Let me take a moment to say again that this was originally an RP, and I basically just cut and pasted things around so it flowed-ish. That means the POV does switch around a lot, especially in this chapter because we have a whopping four characters floating around now. I've glared at this for a while, and decided this was the best way to post it. Faces, old and new pop up in here, and I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter, unfortunately does not belong to us. Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not Jo. However, Graham and Ella both are mine, and I'd like it to stay that way. Samantha belongs to Ravyn, and I know she gets cranky when people try to steal her characters...

Chapter Three: Conversations

-----------------------

Graham Avery yawned, and stretched in his chair. Where was Tom? He knew the annoying overachiever had Transfiguration before Charms class, but he wasn't normally late. The Slytherin boy yawed, and pulled out his textbook, flipping through its pages in a bored manner. The midget teaching the class was squeaking about something having to do with feelings, and Graham was paying no attention whatsoever. It wasn't that he was a belligerent idiot teenager, he just knew it already.

"Now, turn to page forty-two, and there you will find the incantation and instructions for performing the Disillusionment Charm. Very handy, if you do it right," squeaked Flitwick. "Right," Graham muttered, and he flipped the book open, and began skimming the page._ Piece of cake._ Graham had no idea where his normal Charms partner was, but he needed someone to perform the charm on. He wanted to be able to see what he was doing.

///

"Sorry I'm late Professor," Tom said in a monotone as he swept into the classroom and toward his usual spot. Flitwick spluttered and squeaked and said something about it not being a problem. Didn't ask for an explanation and didn't take any points from Slytherin. The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws in the class all gave him a dirty look. If any of them had walked in late they would have lost points.

///

Graham turned to see who spoke, though he knew already who it was. "Merlin, Tom, did you get stuck in a trick step? What took you so long?" Graham had already finished reading the section Flitwick had told them to read, and was practicing the want movement that went with the charm. Fairly basic, circle and flick to point. The trick, he had found, was not to circle it too big, or too small. It affected the potency of the spell quite a bit.

///

"Dumbledore has no sense at all," Tom grumbled to his partner, Graham. He was one of Tom's better Slytherin followers. Especially since the guy had a mind of his own and could be trusted to keep the others in line when Tom was away. "I catch Cooper out of bounds, give her a detention, and Dumbledore send me to baby-sit!"

Tom didn't usually complain. But if he did it was usually about Dumbledore. So he made it about Dumbledore, trying not to focus on Eleanor. He would figure out that can of worms on his own. No need to drag anybody into it. Especially not Graham. He was too smart to trust with these sorts of things.

///

Graham whistled. "Eleanor Cooper? The tall redhead? I wouldn't mind being stuck with her for a few hours." He shook his head, his dirty blond hair falling into his eyes. He drug a hand through it to push it away. Girls were weakness of his. "She's quite the peach. I don't think anyone's ever been able to get her, though." He looked at the look on Tom's face, and laughed outright. He was lucky this class was so busy due to the spells being thrown about, otherwise he probably would have lost points. "Oh, come on, Tom. Yes, Dumbledore's daft. I'm sorry you have to babysit Cooper. Is that what you wanted me to say?"

_///_

The words churned up the snake in Tom's chest and he sent his second a dark look. At first the Dark Lord thought of Dumbledore's pathetic love and how it couldn't at all be stronger than the magic _he_ knew. Then he thought of Eleanor and those red waves and loathed the idea of Graham being stuck with her.

A challenge, then? Tom liked the idea of a challenge. Maybe the detention wouldn't be such a bad thing after all. But if word went out that Tom was trying to go out with a Mudblood, even a hard to get, good looking one on a bet... His reputation could slide. Probably better not to risk it.

"I'm not sure," Tom muttered, pulling out his wand and practicing the movement as well. Then he glanced down at the spell they were supposed to be doing. "I mastered this one ages ago..." He frowned then went back to the more pressing topic. "She owes me a favor. Instead of docking points I gave her a detention that she wouldn't mind doing. I was hoping to be rid of her... Dumbledore has different ideas." Tom wondered how much more to tell Graham.

///

Graham shook his head. He'd never heard his friend his out of sorts before. His train of thought was jumping around like a Chocolate Frog. "Wow, mate, you're losing me. You're not sure if that's what you wanted me to say, got that." He flipped his book closed, and turned on Tom, waving his wand and performing the charm lazily. As Tom faded from view, he continued. "And yeah, this charm's pretty easy, obviously. And you gave her a favor? A _Gryffindor_? I understand the draw of _her_, but...Wow." That was something new. Tom rarely wasted his attention on the pea-brained idiots of that particular House. The piece of work Minerva aside. She was too smart for her own good. "This spell is way too easy." As he preformed the counter-spell to raise the Disillusionment, Tom said something that Graham _really _wasn't expecting.

///

"The Dark Lord is interested in her," Tom said in barely audible whisper. Many of his followers knew Tom by Voldemort, and called him that when it was just them. But Graham alone knew what that meant. "I'm not sure why yet."

///

Graham choked. "What? Is said Dark Lord mental? What does he want with her? How can you not know?" He replied in a whisper. "One of Dumbledore's House? Slughorn's pets? I certainly hope you know what you're doing, Tom. She's a _Mudblood_, on top of it all." He looked at his friend with a bit of concern, hoping that Tom wouldn't open a can of worms for this girl. It was obvious to Graham this was the beginning of another one of the Dark Lord's fascinations.

///

Tom hissed but didn't retort. After all, he had no real answer. He couldn't be sure of anything at the moment. He supposed the best way to figure it out would be to go on the sill Detention tomorrow night and have done with it. Maybe once Tom had his answer he could forget about Eleanor.

"You do remember we're part of Slughorn's collectable students too?" Tom snapped, unable to really dispute any of the other facts Graham had pointed out to him. Even for Graham Tom put up an air of wishing to destroy all Muggles and Muggle-born. It didn't bother him to do so. At least, it hadn't. But after Transfiguration... Well, Eleanor had been amongst the first to master the spell. And it was a difficult spell. Plus, Slughorn did only pick out the most talented and the brightest. If Eleanor was part of that group and her friend Minerva wasn't... She had to be special.

///

"True," Graham looked at the expression on Tom's face, and noted he was obviously not pleased with him. Ah well. Graham made everyone mad, and Tom was no exception. His personality didn't exactly make him a people-pleaser. "But my other points still stand. Why Cooper?" He watched a smile spread across the other boy's face, and knew Tom had just had an epiphany.

///

Ah, so that was why the Dark Lord was interested. Tom smiled. "Cooper's best friend isn't part of the Slug Club. A master at Transfigurations and Slughorn doesn't feel the need to collect her like the rest of us. Yet he did pick out Cooper even though she failed at potions. Why is that?" Ah, it felt good to be on the right track. A track that didn't make him insane... Er...

///

Graham blinked. "Touché. That is a good question. Cooper isn't horrible, but she's definitely not as good as McGonagall." Graham shrugged. "But it's not my problem." Which was true. Graham followed Tom because he had the power, and the people skills to do something big, but he considered himself an equal rather than a servant. A partner. After all, he was the one who made sure the cowards that they recruited stayed loyal.

///

Tom nodded his head absentmindedly at Graham's comments. It felt good to have a reason for the Dark Lord's interest in Eleanor. At least one that would explain his curiosity and would leave everybody off his back. Perhaps the detention would not be so bad.

He would apologize to Eleanor. More than likely he had frightened the girl with his shouting. It wasn't her fault. And Tom wanted her to be at ease around him. That way he could find out more about her.  
///

Graham's attention was pulled to the front of the room as Flitwick dismissed class. "S'about time," he said lazily. He grabbed his things and slung his tattered book bag over his shoulder. "Lunch, then?" He looked at Tom.

///

"Keep the Death Eaters in line this weekend for me, Graham," Tom said as class ended. Flitwick was giving them another essay to do, another measly one roll of parchment. Tom hoped that his homework for his other classes required a little more out of him. This was getting ridiculous. "There's something interesting going out in the Forest. Let them know that I'm trying to figure out what it is and that they should have some theories for me when I come back."

Tom got to his feet and left Graham to his own devises, walking back down the stairs and following the crowd of students going to the Great Hall. But instead of heading straight to lunch he waited by the front doors for Eleanor. He leaned against one of the hourglasses, eyes watching as student milled in from Herbology and comic, hoping to catch Eleanor's eye...

///

He rolled his eyes. "Sure, sure," he replied. "Piece of cake." He walked out of the classroom with Tom, and began down the stairs. They had three stories between them and the Great Hall, and he was hungry. The proceeded down to the Entrance Hall and Graham had his thoughts totally set on food, when Tom stopped. "Oi, mate, what are you..." He followed Tom's gaze, and his eyes rolled as he smiled. The Gryffindors were coming across the grounds from Care of Magical Creatures, and Cooper was among them, trotting after McGonagall, looking worried. "Er, right, well, I s'pose I'll see you later then." He turned and left Tom to his own devices, thinking about sandwiches and Samantha...

---------------------------------------------

Minerva had left Ella to her fate with Riddle and Dumbledore. She had wondered whether Ella had fibbed about the detention. Apparently she hadn't. Though Minerva didn't think it was a good idea for Ella to be out in the forest right now. Dumbledore was right, there was danger around. Minerva had been thinking about dropping Care of Magical Creatures because it took place out on the grounds.

But Ella would never stop taking Care of Magical Creatures and Minerva wouldn't leave her best friend. If Dumbledore hadn't already volunteered Riddle, Minerva probably would have gone with Ella on her detention.

Speaking of Ella, she was going to be late to class...

///

Ella tripped her way down to the forest edge, hoping desperately she wasn't going to miss anything. She was still worrying about Tom, and his current state of mind. She really wanted to know what had gotten him so riled, but she knew he would either tell her, or he wouldn't. She hoped, by lunch, he had calmed enough to tell her...whatever it was he had kept her back for. Like, perhaps, when her detention was to take place? It might be a good thing to know.

As she reached the class, she tripped on a bit of root, and nearly fell on her face. "Sorry, I'm late, Professor Kettleburn," she gasped, "Professor Dumbledore kept me late." So, not quite true, but what was she going to do? Say, '_Sorry Professor, but the boy that gave me detention as a favor asked me to stay as he fought with professor Dumbledore?'_ Probably wouldn't go over so well.

Professor Kettleburn looked at Eleanor, and smiled. "Not to worry, my dear. Understandable." He turned to address the class, gesturing to the covered cages spread out behind him. "Jobberknolls. Not wildly dangerous or exciting, but fascinating creatures. Birds." he said. "Three to a cage. Observe, and take notes of everything from appearance to behavior. Off you go."

Kettleburn was not the most eloquent teacher at Hogwarts, needless to say. Ella hopped up to Minny, and dragged her to a cage. "Sorry for, uh, shooing you off. It was quite pointless, really." She lifted the cover on the cage in front of her, and smiled at the beautiful creature in front of her. "Aren't they gorgeous?" she whispered. "They make no sound until the moment they die, and then it spouts out every sound it's ever heard." She thought there was something about it that was truly lovely. She felt like that sometimes. That, the only time she'd ever be able to tell everyone about all she really thought or felt was when she died.

///

"Don't worry about it," Minerva said as Ella apologized. She took one look at the bird and sighed. This would be useful for one thing. Once today's class was done Minerva would be able to transfigure it or something into it. It was starting to become the only thing she cared about. If Dumbledore weren't the Transfiguration teacher Minerva would be planning the take the job in a few years.

"Yes, fascinating," Minerva sniffed, writing down the structure of the bird, the patterns of the wings, the shape of its beak... "So what was it like partnering with Riddle? If I had known you would have been stuck with him I would have partnered with you... but it looked like things went alright."

///

Ella shook her head, and began writing her observations. Minny just didn't understand how amazing it was. Eleanor had always loved animals, but cows, goats, and dogs were nothing compared to what was in front of her now. She remembered how happy she had been when she saw Care of Magical Creatures on the class options. It had taken her no time to decide on it and Ancient Runes. The latter mainly because that was what Minny signed up for.

"Er..." Eleanor swallowed. "Yeah, it was fine. I don't mind him at all. He's very talented, and he makes a good partner." She began sketching the Jobberknoll on another bit of parchment. She wasn't the best artist, but she thought it would make an interesting subject. "A bit on the quiet side, though." The Jobberknoll hopped around the bottom of the cage before opening its small wings and flying up to one of the sticks hung on the bars of the cage.

The Jobberknoll was a tiny thing, and a very vivid blue. She looked around at the rest of the class, and could see that everyone was at a bird already. "We lucked out," she said. "We've got this one to ourselves. Hello, love," she looked at the small thing, and couldn't help but smile. It looked up at her silently, like it was as fascinated with her as she was with it. She wrote that down. Its small yellow eyes seemed to take in all of its surroundings with a curious dignity.

"He's supposed to be coming with me on my detention in the Forest, according to Dumbledore. Tom didn't seem pleased, though." That may have possibly been the largest understatement of the century.

///

"Tom?" Minerva looked at Ella flabbergasted. "Since when were you on first name basis with Riddle?"

All thoughts of notes were forgotten. Instead Minerva was staring at Ella wide eyed, mouth wide open. She managed to pull herself together to close her mouth but couldn't stop looking at Ella. Were the two of them supposed to also be interested in Riddle? Minerva has always been on the impression that the two of them were above such girlhood acts. That they knew they could do better than Riddle.

///

Drat. "Uh...I don't know. It's shorter than saying Riddle all the time, isn't it? And it _is_ his name, Minny." There. Question dodged, Ella hoped. Although, she wasn't quite sure what about it was such a big deal. Was she still trying to hide an extra ten minutes of speech that happened in a Tower, or something else?

///

This matter of the detention would be dealt with first. "Do you know why Riddle wasn't pleased?" Minerva said frowning. "He's always been so fascinated with Hogwarts. Back when we were prefects he was constantly trying to go new ways... I hated partnering with him," Minerva added, sniffing, with her nose slightly in the air. Truth be told she actually enjoyed the exploring of Hogwarts. But she also wanted to do her job right. "But I would have assumed a good reason to go into the Forest... Riddle would have jumped on it..."

///

Eleanor looked at Minerva's frown, and rolled her eyes. "I have no idea why he wasn't thrilled with the idea of roaming about a dangerous forest in the middle of the night when we have a Defense Against the Dark Arts essay due tomorrow, Minny. Do you?" She began adding the speckles to her Jobberknoll sketch carefully, making sure they were all in the right places. "And as for his exploratory tendencies, I think even he knows there's a time and a place. The Forbidden Forest, while Unicorns are being injured, probably isn't it. And If I was a Slytherin Head Boy, chasing after a Gryffindor rule-breaker in that forest would not be something I'd be thrilled about."

However, she'd willingly chase him through the...

Woah. Her dream flashed through her mind, and she felt a blush creep slowly into her cheeks. It had been on the forest's edge, in the middle of the night. Interesting coincidence. Then again, the great hairy groundskeeper had not made an appearance, nor did Tom show any desire at all to kiss her. So coincidence. And...

And wishful thinking.

Again, drat.

///

"Unicorns are being injured!" Minerva spluttered a bit too loudly. Some of the students looked up but Minerva gave them a sharp look and they quickly went back to work. When she spoke again, Minerva lowered her voice. "Have you thought that maybe Riddle is trying to get rid of you? I mean, why else would he send a Muggle-born witch - no offense, Ella - into the forest when it's at its most dangerous and be angry when Dumbledore told him to go with?"

Minerva was angry now. If she weren't Head Girl she would have gladly cursed Riddle and been done with it. The sorry boy needed to be sent straight to the Hospital Wing. St. Mungo's if Minerva could have her way. The nerve of him sending _anybody_ into the forest when there was something out there that could injure a unicorn.

///

Ella looked at her friend in mild disgust. "Honestly, Minny, don't blow this out of proportions. Ogg probably requested that I go with him for my detention," Outright lie, "Because I know how to handle myself around dangerous creatures." True. "And Tom probably agreed." Possibly the truth, but Ella knew Tom had arranged the detention. "And perhaps he angry because he has homework. Or plans with someone. Or maybe he really doesn't want to be around me." She hoped that was a lie. "There is any number of reasons why he wouldn't want to go." Minny was shaking, she was so angry. Her usual look of outrage was on her face, and Ella was beginning to worry about her health, when she spoke again.

///

"I'm going to have a talk with Professor Dumbledore," snarled Minerva, shaking all over. "I'm going to tell him to send me in Riddle's place. That fool..."

///_  
_  
"No!" Eleanor said a little too loudly. She coughed, and looked down to her Jobberknoll sketch. His beak was too small. She began filling it out, and spoke a bit quieter. "No, Minny, it's perfectly fine, I promise. Just...don't go to Dumbledore. Please? He has his reasons, I'm sure, and I don't want to rock the boat, okay?"

She drew the feet onto her sketch, and looked from it to the bird. It wasn't bad. She blew on the ink for a second, and then tucked it into her textbook. She pulled out the description and wrote down everything she had logged away as she was drawing the Jobberknoll, including its slight tendency to pose for her. It was absolutely adorable. As she finished, she looked around, trying not to look at Minny. "It looks like most everyone's finished," she observed, somewhat lamely.

///

Minerva lips became a thin white line. Her mother always warned her that if she kept making that face her lips would stay that way. It was not one of Minerva's nicer looks but it had become a habit of hers. She couldn't stop it now.

"If you're sure..." Minerva said slowly, finishing up some of her notes. She allowed the conversation to end on that note as class slowly came to a close. They were assigned homework, but it was a simple compare and contrast essay. Hardly worth the roll of parchment that Professor Kettleburn told them to write.

///

"Positive," Ella said firmly. "It's not that big of a deal, really." She finished shoving things into her book bag, which was a bit of a mess, and followed Minny as she made her way back to the castle. Eleanor was still a little worried about how Minny was going to treat Tom if she came across him anytime soon, but she just hoped she would have time to cool her off before they saw him again.

///

"Just be careful, Ella," Minerva said as they packed up their things and made their way back to the castle. "You can't trust Riddle. As much as he might appear to be a nice guy...

She trailed off as they entered the castle because the object of her speech was waiting by the front doors. His eyes flashed as he spotted Eleanor but he didn't move. Minerva sighed.

///

Minerva trailed off, and as Ella caught up to her long-strided friend, she looked up. Her eyes widened a bit, and she smiled widely as she saw Tom lounging against one of the hourglasses next to the front door. His eyes were scanning the crowd, looking for someone in specific, and as she met his eyes, it seemed obvious the someone was her. It was oddly fascinating. Ella knew Minny wasn't going to be happy, but she certainly was. She heard Minny say something, and turned to her friend.

"I'll save you a seat..."She heard Minerva say._  
_  
"Yes, thanks," she said absentmindedly. As Minny walked off, Eleanor approached Tom. As she reached him, she stopped and stood a bit awkwardly. "Hi," she said, smiling slightly. She didn't know what exactly was going on, but she knew Tom had wanted to talk to her before Transfiguration had ended. He was so upset after the class, and it was her fault. She looked at his face, and met his eyes, a very difficult thing to do. They were so dark..."Look, I'm sorry about the detention. I know..." she took a breath, "I know you have better things to be doing, and if it wasn't for me, you'd be doing them, and..." She brushed a bit of hair out of her face. "I'm sorry."

_///_

It was actually amusing. Eleanor was taking all the blame, wrapping it up into a nice easy package that Tom would rather be doing something out, and apologized. Very well executed. Completely idiotic. But Tom smiled none the less.

"You," he said, pointing a finger at Eleanor's forehead. "Are jumping to conclusions…"

He let that one sink in, his amused smile still plastered on his face. Very few people were actually paying attention in the crowd of students making their way to lunch. Tom didn't care anyways whether anybody saw him. For all they knew he was making fun of Eleanor. Which he was but it was all good natured.

///

Tom's finger was only a few inches from Ella's forehead, and she looked at him, confused. Was she jumping to conclusions? She supposed she had, but it seemed like the only answer was he didn't want to go with her, and she totally understood why, after all, he hadn't done anything to deserve a detention. She stood and looked at him, and his very amused smile. It was sweet paired with his hovering finger and teasing words. His smile was also looking more natural, and it made some of Ella's nerves dissipate. "Am I?"

///

Once his words seemed to have made it into Eleanor's head, he continued. "Dumbledore has always felt as if he could rule my life," Tom explained. A lie, really. Well, a half truth. The statement was true but was not entirely the reason he had been angry. But it would be good enough for Eleanor. "Ever since he told me I was a wizard. So I didn't appreciate him telling me I had to go with you."

///

She blushed slightly. "Oh. Well, that makes sense, I guess. Sorry." She smiled a bit sheepishly. "I guess I do tend to jump to the most obvious conclusion. I just..." she trailed off. It was an odd thought, Dumbledore being so involved in someone's life, and it made Eleanor wonder what Tom's parents were like. If he even had any. She realized she didn't know a thing about the boy's family, only that he never went home for Christmas. Then again, even she had stayed over Christmas a few times, much to the dismay of her mother, who was convinced Christmas wasn't right unless everyone and their aunt Fanny was present. _Poor Mum,_ she thought, _Christmas next year will be hard on her, without Jaimy..._

_///_

"I probably would have gone anyway." An interesting thing to add, Tom thought. But probably true enough if he had managed to continue to think about Eleanor after setting up the detention. Though now that Tom thought about it once Minerva found out about the detention she probably would have volunteered to go with. And might have cursed Tom if she had a chance.

"And you can tell Minerva I am a gentleman," Tom said finally, leaving that line open to interpretation. Graham's words about Eleanor being a catch rang in his head and his eyes did a once over. Sure, he could see it. Too bad she was Muggle-born. Though Tom knew from his research that it was entirely possible for a supposed Muggle-born to have wizard blood and not know it. He might have to do some research on the Cooper family tree…

///

She pulled away from that train of thought, and looked back at Tom. "You would have come anyway? But why? Minny did say you liked the Forest, but..." Her brows furrowed. "It's quite dangerous right now, isn't it?" It hardly bothered her for the simple reason that she trusted Ogg, and her own ability with animals to get her out of most pickles. But Tom? He had no need or reason to put himself in unnecessary danger, but he was planning on it anyway? Why in the wide world would he do that?

As he commented on Minny, Ella laughed. "You caught her face, then? She disapproves heartily of anyone going in the Forest right now, least of all you and me. I can pass on your message, but I hardly think it will ease any of her stress." Poor Minny. Ella was never able to stay in Minerva's box of what was safe and in the realm of Hogwarts rules. The fact that Ella always managed to weasel the Prefect's bathroom password out of her was about all that Minny could stand. And now she had been out of bed at night, in an out-of-bounds area, with none other than Tom Riddle, who was the Head Boy, and was serving detention with the same boy, in the middle of the night in the Forbidden Forest was probably more than she could stand/

///

Eleanor was inquiring after why he would have gone into the forest anyways but he ignored the questions. Instead Tom Riddle put on his air of mystery, a glint in his eye that told Eleanor to try and figure it out. He was still standing there amused as the students started to empty out of the Entrance Hall. The noise of the hungry students was slightly muted from the Great Hall.

With nobody watching Tom gave a shrug and pushed away from the hourglass. He only had to take one step closer to Eleanor for them to be pretty much toe to toe. This time, though, Tom wasn't disconcerted because he was the one that had crossed the distance between them. Tom was a tall student and he looked down at Eleanor, a smirk on his face.

He wasn't quite certain what the point of it was, but he'd figure it out eventually. The Dark Lord liked to keep people on their toes and knew that Tom was attractive. He used that to his advantage. Again he thought of Graham's words, about how nobody had been able to get together with Eleanor. Yes, a challenge indeed. An attractive one, now that Tom took the time to look.

"Minerva disapproves of quite a few things," Tom said in a low voice. "Are you going to let her disapproval run your life?"

That said he stepped backwards and to the side so that there was a better distance between the two.

///

When Tom stepped towards her, she felt every nerve in her body turn into a live wire. They were inches apart, and his dark eyes were boring into her own. Breathing? Who needs it? She didn't. Or if she did, she wasn't breathing anyway. There was a slight smirk on his face as e looked down at her. Eleanor's brain was making funny spluttering noises, but thankfully, the pathway from brain to mouth had shut off completely. She saw his eyes study her face, and it very vaguely registered that he seemed to like what he saw.

"I...uh," was all she got out. He stepped back, and suddenly, she was free. "No. No, I won't let it, and I never have," she finally said after she could breathe again. This was going to have to be fixed. How was she supposed to concentrate on her detention if she couldn't think about anything but Tom's perfectly pale skin? Definitely a problem. She'd only just met him, and she was turning into an idiotic teenage girl. No. She shook her head, and it helped slightly. She looked at him, her eyebrows raised. "Did you enjoy that?" She wasn't about to tell him how much _she_ had enjoyed it.

///

He just about answered her. But what, the dark lord asked, what would he say? Yes I enjoy making you squirm. Yes you are quite attractive and if you weren't so entwined in my life I'd use you then leave you. Yes some part of me finds being close to you strangely appealing.

There were too many ears around for Tom to be able to do any of those safely, let alone Eleanor's. He would keep his thoughts to himself. There were still some things he needed to figure out.

Tom watched the girl as she tried to shake the cobwebs out of her head, and finally, she spoke. "By the way, when is this controversial detention? I need to know how long I'll have to complete all the essays I have due Monday."

"Detention is tomorrow at eight," Tom informed her. "If you need help I'll be in the library all day tomorrow. I'm sure Samantha will be happy to bother me… You'd be doing me a favor."

The Dark Lord had decided he didn't need Eleanor's favor anymore. He had other plans for her. Might as well let her off the hook so she didn't feel obligated to him. Still, it was an interesting change of events for Tom.

///

Eleanor snorted. "You mean that simpering girl that tried to get you to help you earlier? It wouldn't be a favor, it would be a rescue mission. Tell me, how many times has she jumped you? Just an approximation?"

///

Tom burst out laughing at this statement. A rescue mission indeed!

"Oh, she's only tried very recently," Tom told Eleanor. "Her most recent boyfriend – a daft Ravenclaw Beater – just dumped her. I'm not sure how much of it is revenge on said Ravenclaw and how much of it is wild emotion finally pushing her to try and get what she thinks she wants."

///

To give her hands something to do, Eleanor tugged her hair free of its large clip and shook it out. It was very tangled, of course, and was slightly wavy, simply because she had put it up wet the day before. She fiddled with it, trying to get it to un-knot as she continued. "Well, eight tomorrow, then. I guess I'll...see you then." She turned and began walking toward the Great Hall. "If I don't decide to rescue you tomorrow afternoon, that is."

///

Tom grinned as Eleanor said a few more parting words before leaving. Once she was out of sight Tom took a deep breath and sat down right where he was standing. He had a few fits of laughter, got angry at himself, moped, laughed again, growled under her breath, and finally pulled himself together. When Tom got to his feet there was a smile on his face but it was one of his more controlled, cold smiles.

Tomorrow would be fun. Maybe he'd go do his essays now so he wouldn't be distracted by them tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: because I'm in love with these things. I enjoy writing them more than the actual fanfic. I joke… I think. Anyways, this was a lovely little scene we through together because we didn't want to just jump straight to the detention. We needed for there to be a little more interaction between Ella and Tom before… well, you'll see next chapter. Anyways, as Lara says it's nice to see two young people talking about love and not actually in it… yet. This is a little bit shorter than the others.

Disclaimer: As strange as it may seem I think there is actually quite a bit here that belongs to us. Sure, if we tried to sell it as our own work there would be copyright infringement. But I'm pretty good at making those subtle Harry Potter things (like Hogwarts and wands and the houses) just disappear and get replaced. At which point you really do have a very original story. But in the mean time, credit does go to JK Rowling on most accounts. Ella and Graham belongs to Lara and Sammy belongs to me.

More Author's Note: Yay! Okay, reminder again that this was originally an RP, so look for quite a few pov changes. Also I'd like to point out that Samantha's whole purpose for quite sometime was what she does in this chapter only. But then she just kept popping up (as you will see) and there wasn't really much that could be helped. She inserted herself as a main character.

R&R please. Thank you from both of us with love and kisses to our one loyal fan! Thank you bunches and roses.

Sorry for the long beginning… here is our chapter now ^-^''

Chapter Four: The Library

"_Well, what about you? Are you going to answer your own question?" _

_He laughed. __"Green."_

_Ella rolled her eyes. "Sure it is. That's the stock Slytherin answer."_

They were walking somewhere Ella had never been before. It was dark, and a little on the wet side. Normally it would freak her out a little, but she didn't mind now. She wasn't alone. Eleanor smiled up at the dark-haired boy walking beside her, who began to speak again. 

_"No, really, it's green. I've always liked that color..."_

_Ella laughed and slid her hand into his. "Yes, ok then. I'm still not sure I believe you..." _

_She trailed off as she felt something sticky on her bare feet. Looking down, she saw something slivery covering the soles of her feet, and filling in between her toes. She knew what it was, and she screamed as she tried to wipe off the thick Unicorn blood. She heard someone began to laugh, and she looked up at Tom, who wasn't Tom, but Jaimy. _

_"Blood's everywhere!" He said in a manic whisper. She stepped back from him, confused and afraid. _

_"You're dead," she whispered. He laughed._

_"Not dead enough."_

Eleanor's eyes popped open as she sat up and looked around. The dormitory was brighter than it was when she normally woke up, which was probably a good thing in her current state of mind. She ran her hands through her hair and then sighed. That dream was ridiculous. She knew exactly what pieces of yesterday her mind had spun it from, but it didn't make it any less weird. She didn't normally have such vivid dreams. The last one she had had like that was, well the night before, but before that, when Jaimy died the previous summer. She supposed they were triggered by stress, and N.E.W.T.s were stressful enough to cause them, she thought.

She rolled out of bed and walked around to her trunk, where she pulled out a belted dress to wear for the day. It was one of her most comfortable outfits from home, and she quite liked it. It was getting old, though. However, it did travel rather well. She walked over to the bathroom adjacent to the dormitory, trying not to wake anyone up. There were only one or two girls left, and Ella was frankly surprised that they were sleeping so soundly. It was quite bright in the room.

After she was dressed, and on her way down to the Great Hall, she began thinking about the amount of homework she had yet to do. She had most of it in her book bag, which was hanging from her shoulder. She had knocked out Dumbledore's essay the night before, and had gotten a start on her compare and contrast essay on th Jobberknoll. She was avoiding the Charms essay like the plague, and she knew she was going to regret it if she didn't get a move on. It was very big either, she just didn't know how to fill even a small space on a spell that was that simple. She supposed a history of its uses might work...

The Great Hall was pretty full, but it looked like everyone had already eaten, and were just lounging around, or doing homework. She scanned the room for Minny, and didn't see her anywhere. Nor did she see Tom, as she did a quick and hopefully inconspicuous search of the Slytherin table. However, a sandy-haired boy apparently saw her, because he raised his eyebrows lazily, and mouthed _"Library."_ How odd. Ella frowned, and he laughed, and mouthed _"Tom,"_ before pointing out the Great Hall door. Ella's eyes widened and she turned around, wondering if everyone knew she and Tom were talking more than the ever had, which wasn't saying much, as they had never talked, ever, in the past. She heard a loud laugh come from the direction of the Slytherin table, but she didn't turn around to see if it was the nameless (though helpful) boy.

Focusing on the Gryffindor table, and trying hard to not look around the room, Ella reached through a group of Gryffindor First-years, and grabbed a couple pieces of toast and wrapped them in a napkin, excusing herself as she did it. Food taken care of, she walked out of the room, never looking around to the other side of the Hall. It was safer that way.

Now where do I go? she thought uncomfortably as she looked around the Entrance Hall. She didn't want to go back to the Common Room, she really needed a table, like the one in the Great Hall, but it was so packed, and there was that really odd boy...No, that would never do. She wouldn't be able to concentrate. She didn't particularly want to end up in the Library, because she always got on the wrong side of the Librarian. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact she now knew for certain a certain Head Boy was in there. She wasn't avoiding him, she just...didn't want to look too dumb by jumping at every chance to be around him. But the Library was looking like her only choice. Ah well. She readjusted the strap of her bag, and started making the journey to the Library. She took a bite of her toast, trying to finish it before she reached her were a ton of tables in there. She could sit at one of them that did _not_ have said Head Boy at them.

This was getting complicated.

The Library was, well, silent for one thing, and for another, fairly empty of either obnoxious younger students or manic Librarians. Ella smiled to herself. Perfect. There was a nice small table and chairs at the end of the Charms bookshelf, which was probably the best place for her to be, considering the nature of her first essay. As she walked though the large room, the smell of dust and ancient books met her nose. It was a smell she loved, for some reason. It was vaguely mysterious, and a bit, well more than a bit, magical. She kept an eye out for Minny as she walked through, but she never saw her. Ella shrugged mentally, figuring she was probably off stalking Dumbledore. When she reached her chosen set of furniture, she smiled to herself. Completely empty. Perfect. She plopped her bag down beside one of the wooden chairs, stuffed the now-empty toast napkin in a front pouch of her bag, and began digging through it for her Charms work.

///

Tom wasn't the first up that morning. It wasn't a big deal, nobody really gave him any weird looks, it happened every so often. By now most everybody in Slytherin knew that he had to baby-sit Eleanor Cooper for her detention. None of this was taken personally on Tom. Of course not. Not their grand leader, Tom Riddle.

Instead whispers and hisses about Cooper permeated the Slytherin Common Room that night. The girls made special notice to gossip about her very loud. As their stories became grander and grander ("She's a man eater!" "Actually she likes girls." "I heard she was in love with her brother…") Tom found himself getting more frustrated. But coming to the rescue of Eleanor would only cause the talk to change to him. He couldn't afford that.

But neither could he stand Samantha glaring at him talking about how much of a horrible person Eleanor was. She was the one leading the particularly nasty rumors. But there were some girls that spoke of Eleanor trying to figure out why the Sorting Hat had put her in Gryffindor. Probably, they seemed to decide, because she wasn't ambitious enough.

Tom managed to get most of his homework done that night though he couldn't quite focus on Transfiguration without Eleanor becoming far too prevalent in his thoughts. He bid everybody good night, being among the first to fall asleep that night. But his dreams were filled with dark forests, gleaming red eyes, somebody screaming, and holding somebody really tight. Tom couldn't make much sense of any of it but he rarely dreamt and they took a lot of energy out of him.

When he made it to the library he didn't take a table immediately. The Dark Lord wanted Eleanor on edge again and Tom just wanted an excuse to watch her. So instead he browsed through the shelves, keeping out of sight of the library entrance, but keeping his senses alert. Finally he heard footsteps and somebody choosing a table. Very slowly he looked around the edge of a bookshelf and saw the back of Eleanor's head.

He spent a few minutes making his way around the edge of the library before walking up to the table that Eleanor was sitting at. Tom stood opposite her, waiting to see if she would notice her, a smirk on his face. Before long he place a hand on the table and slid into the chair.  
///

Ella was really making progress on her essay, much to her surprise. Perhaps she was absorbing the information from the books near her by osmosis…Whatever it was, it was working. She was leaning over her essay, writing in her rather messy handwriting when she saw a hand touch the table out of the corner of her eye. "Agh!" She jumped, causing her quill to scratch a line across her parchment. Ella opened her mouth to tell off whoever it was, and stopped as Tom slid into the seat across from her.

///  
"There's one thing I don't get. How did a girl like you manage to stay single all this time?" Tom flashed an innocent grin. "It's the girl's latest gossip and I thought I'd win their favor by bringing them an answer."

An obvious lie. But a fun one none the less. What would the girls do if Tom came to them bearing the answer to why Eleanor Cooper, one of the most attractive available girls, had no significant other?

///

Ella returned his grin with a small glare, that slowly dissolved into a laugh as he finished talking. She had originally hoped to avoid him today...but since he was here, she might as well enjoy it.

"Really? Oh yes, I'm sure I'm quite the conversation topic amongst the girls who don't feel even the _least_ bit threatened by me." She didn't believe people were talking about her for a minute. She just wasn't that interesting. The only girls that got talked about were the threats. If it was average, or plain, it wasn't talked about. She was both.

"And what kind of girl am I supposed to be, anyway?" She laughed, and pulled her wand out of her bag to repair her ink-covered essay. She was careful not to erase any of her intentional writing, and she did manage to get quite a bit of the unwanted scribble off without setting it on fire or anything.  
///

He filed away the question to answer later. It was an interesting one and he wondered how Eleanor would take the many answers. Though he would have to add the disclaimer that he did not quite trust any of the assumptions.

///  
"But to satisfy your obvious curiosity," she looked at him with an impish grin. "I just…haven't seen the point in starting a relationship with someone who's just okay. I mean, we're still in school, and none of the people who were dating in out Fifth-Year are still together, are they? Because they just go after what's male and looking, and that's not my idea of a perfect match. I mean, sometimes it would be nice, just, knowing I'm worth the effort to someone." She rolled her eyes. She was being strangely truthful in her answer, but she was hoping he wouldn't take it as seriously as she meant it. "But I'm just…I dunno, not that girl. The girl with the boy, the good looks, and the perfect life." She shrugged. "Honestly, I'd rather _not_ be that. I'd prefer something a bit more…Original."

_Like you._

Not like you.

Oh dear.

///

An interesting conclusion to a very descriptive answer. Tom cocked his head to the side, letting a few seconds tick by before saying,

"Too bad. Sam had her heart set on cannibalism." Teasing. Tom had resorted to more teasing. This was an interesting turn of events. But it also lightened the tone around the question he had asked. Curiosity simply and then a very non serious reason behind it. Though it was true that Samantha had really been hoping that Eleanor ate men…

///

Eleanor rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, I'm sure. And she's my next victim, would you tell her that?"

Eleanor looked at Tom, a bit embarrassed. "So, now you know. And you? You could have anything female in this school, and yet, you don't. Why is that?"

She looked back down at her essay and scribbled another sentence on Disillusionment Charms. It as coming along slowly. It would never be the best in the world, but she thought she might at least get a passing grade on it. She looked back up as Tom answered her question.

///

He should have seen the questioning being turned on him. Part of him probably had. Tom smiled.

"Ah, I've never put much faith in love," Tom told her. "I grew up without the loving support of parents. I figure I can live without any kind of love. So though I understand companionship, I never understood romance."

Let her interpret that.

///

This made Ella think. She knew she was biting her lip, and more than likely frowning slightly as she thought up her reply. "That makes sense, I suppose. But, to me, I guess that's where I find love, in companionship. Well, maybe not exactly that..." She smiled slightly, lost in trying to figure out how to say what she was thinking. "I guess what I mean is, love...in it's deepest state, is simply a bond between two people that cannot be broken by anything on this earth. It's not the silly teenage drama, or the melodramatic proposals. It's deeper. It's like a kind of magic in itself. You know how your magic felt before you came here? Kind of wild, but still a part of you? That's how I see love." She shrugged. "It's complicated."

Even though she had never been in a relationship, Ella had always firmly believed in the existence of love. She supposed she just, had to believe that the kind of love books were written about was real. But she also believed it was very rare, and only for those who were willing to fight for it. It wasn't a right, it was a reward.  
///

It was the same kind of thing Dumbledore might spill. But coming from Eleanor it fascinated Tom. Love as magic? Perhaps. But if that were the case than so was fear, hate, anger… Those were the types of magic Tom was good at. Let Dumbledore and Eleanor keep their love. That wasn't a kind of magic Tom would ever be able to master.

Tom reached out and pulled the starts of Eleanor's essay toward him to look it over. He did read it over, though most of his concentration was on Eleanor. It was actually well done. And he pointed this out to her, though he hardly paid attention to what he was saying in regards to the essay.

///  
She felt her essay slip out from underneath her hands, and looked down. Tom ha stolen it, and was reading it a bit absentmindedly. She waited for him to finish, and tugged at a lock of her hair as he read. It was being utterly unmanageable today, so she had foregone trying to style it, and had left it down. Tom finished, and mumbled something incoherent about the essay. Ella looked at him, trying not to laugh.

"Er, Tom? You know I have no idea what you're saying, right?" She took her essay back, and penned in another couple of sentences before flipping the page on her book. "Don't you have any work to be doing?" She asked him, looking up. "I'm swamped. Free time seems a thing of the past, hmm?"

///

"Tommy!"

He groaned for Eleanor's sake, but his eyes twinkled in a silent smile. Just then Samantha ran across the library, throwing her arms around Tom's neck and giving Eleanor a dark glare. She probably hadn't meant for Tom to see it, but he had been looking for it. When Tom didn't move, Samantha pulled away and pouted, hands on her hips.  
///

Eleanor and Tom groaned in unison. She knew that voice. Samantha trotted across the library toward them, and threw herself at Tom like an idiot, glaring at Ella the entire time. Ella's eyes turned to Tom, who seemed to find the situation amusing. She stared incredulously as Samantha started whining at him. It was utterly unbearable, and just to avoid having to look at Samantha, Ella reached down and grabbed a bit of cloth out of her bag to clean off her quill, which had become all inky in the wrong places.

///  
"Oh, come on Tommy," said Samantha, faking tears. "Why would you rather be with her?"  
///

Ella's eyebrows shot up nearly into her hairline, and she raised her head to look at the girl incredulously. She was resisting the urge to say something snide, and failing. She opened her mouth to tell Samantha exactly where to go to when Tom spoke up. He definitely looked amused now. Ella, on the other hand, did not find it as hilarious.

///  
"We both know I'm not right for you, Sammy," Tom said, his smile amused though Samantha probably couldn't tell. He rested his elbow on the table and his head in his hand. "Why don't you try some other guy? Graham is a great guy."  
///

"Graham?" she heard herself say. Perhaps he was the blond boy who had, er, helped her out earlier. Or maybe not. Either way, she doubted anyone Tom considered a great guy would want this pitiful scrap of humanity in front of her. She wasn't entirely sure what about Samantha irked her so much. Aside form the whole simpering idiot thing.

///  
"But you're in charge!" whined Samantha, stomping a foot. "I want to be a pretty princess. I'm a pureblood and she's a mudblood! How can there be a choice?"  
///

"Excuse me?" Ella looked at the girl, her blue eyes somehow managing to look fiery. her hand moved to her wand on the table, and she felt her anger building up in her. She had been called that before, and it bothered her a bit, but she wasn't about to take it from this ignorant girl. She could tell Tom was beginning to get agitated as well. His answer made the fire raging in Ella's mind lessen slightly, but she was still on the verge of cursing Samantha into oblivion.

///  
"Sammy, there isn't," Tom said calmly, though he was starting to get annoyed. "We weren't made for each other. Besides, when have I ever said I base my choices on your type of blood? I have better standards than that."

"And what would those be?" Samantha spat bitterly. "And how does she fit into them?"  
///

Ella looked from Tom to Smantha, thoroughly confused, and upset. This was getting nuts. This girl comes in, treating Eleanor like absolute dirt, and climbs all over Tom, saying he was in charge, and that she wanted him. And they started talking about standards, and plans? She felt the fire fade, and in its place a hollow throbbing invaded her chest. She didn't understand. She watched Tom stand and face the girl, and to Ella's surprise, defended her.

///  
"I don't know yet," said Tom, slowly rising to his feet. "And stop saying 'she' like it's some vile word. Now stop meddling in my business, Ozment! Eleanor is my concern."

Samantha narrowed her eyes at Tom before twisting and shooting Eleanor a dirty glare. Then, with a sniff, she stomped back out of the library. Once he was sure she was gone, Tom lowered himself back down his seat. His back was rigid. He was not at all pleased with the way he or Samantha had acted.

///

Samantha shot Eleanor another withering glare, and huffed out. As Tom sat back down slowly, Ella buried her head in her arms. She didn't know what in the world she was supposed to do now. The hollow feeling was still there, and it didn't feel so great. She took a deep breath, expanding the hole, and looked up at Tom, and she was sure her face was an open book. "Your...concern?" She closed her eyes. "Is that what I am? What does that mean?" Ella ran a hand through her hair, and frowned. She didn't even _ask_ about the whole 'in charge' thing.

///

As Eleanor asked her question, Tom peered at her as if he had glasses. His dark eyes just watched her for a moment while a very calm battle was raged at the back of his head. The arguments went off like small fireworks until finally wormed its way to the front of his mind and told his mouth _speak_.

And so he spoke.

"You're treading into dangerous waters, Eleanor," Tom said in a warning tone. "There are people that would… do bad things to either of us if I let this continue."

Yes, oh very vague. How mysterious. Tom was not in the mood to be the mysterious Slytherin student. And it wasn't entirely Eleanor's fault. Tom was the one that had chosen to speak to her. Tom was the one that had finally agreed to going with on the detention. Tom had been the one to decide on a fake detention instead of actually taking house pints. Tom was the one that had suggested being in the library.

Why? Because of a girl? The Dark Lord sneered silently at this though didn't argue. Maybe, he thought, some people had it more right than Tom had tried to make the world fit all his life. He had lost his family, had never had that loving warmth… Was it any doubt that he had tried to prove to himself that the world could exist without love?

Even though his mother wouldn't have had him if it weren't for her "love" of his father?  
///

Ella looked at Tom, her eyes searching his face for any ideas as to what he meant. People? What people?

"Tom...I'm not sure I understand."

The biggest understatement ever. She looked down at her essay, which was not quite done, but she couldn't finish it now. There was a huge mass of thoughts rushing around in her head, and she didn't know what to say, or do. She felt like everything was a bit unreal. Ten minutes ago, he was teasing her about being single, and commenting on her essay. The day before, they were nothing but awkward acquaintances. And now, there was something that may or may not 'continue?' Tom kept speaking, his voice soft.

///  
"You may believe yourself uninteresting," Tom continued, the tone in his voice easing. "But I have found you very interesting. There are very few people I find interesting. Don't take that as a compliment. It could be extremely dangerous for you."

He said this last sentence, enunciating every single syllable. He wanted to give her an out. A chance to choose to walk away. They would do this detention and never speak again. Her choice this time. Tom had been forcing himself on her this entire time. He was interested in her but there was no reason she had to continue being interested in him.

But he also didn't like the idea that she might not be interested. Tom Riddle, who had been fawned over by so many other girls, could have any out of a large sea of females, was scared that this one young woman might decide to give him no more notice.  
///

She took a deep breath, and blinked. She could tell he was warning her about something, and she had a feeling she should heed his warning. But she just couldn't. She didn't know enough, hadn't seen enough. She wasn't finished being around him. There was this ever present tension that crackled in her every time he was near. Now that she thought about it, it was a bit like the electricity in the air before a lightning storm. Maybe he was dangerous. But the real question was, did Eleanor really care?

///  
He got to his feet, looking down at Eleanor, looking away, starting to walk away, then pausing and looking down at her again.

"I wouldn't care if your parents were a pair of apes," Tom told her. "It wouldn't change my opinion of you. I'll see you at the detention… We'll see if you still decide to risk being around me afterwards."

He turned and started to walk away

///

Tom stood, and began to walk away. She sat for around thirty seconds, absorbing what he had said before she hurried the few feet after him. She placed her hand on his shoulder, and stood on her toes.

"I'll see you tonight."

There was so much more that she wanted to say, too many questions she needed to ask. But she knew now was not the time for another deep conversation. So she just left it at that. She turned, and walked back to the table, where she unceremoniously stuffed her belongings into her bag, and then put her head in her hands. She seriously contemplated crying like an idiot, but she managed not to, somehow. It had been three days. Three days since this had begun.

How would it end?

///

Tom avoided everybody the rest of that day.

Everybody except one person. This one person – who was not Eleanor – was probably the least likely person for Tom to ever willingly talk with. In fact, Tom didn't just not avoid this person he went directly to that person to talk to. Because there wasn't a single other person in the entirety of Hogwarts that Tom believed could help him with what was plaguing his mind… which was Eleanor.

"Ah, Tom. A pleasant surprise to see you…"

Albus Dumbledore smiled as Tom walked into his office, sweeping a hand to the chair opposite his desk. Tom hesitated. He was a proud man and didn't like what he was about to do. Any of it, really. But he had come to learn that Dumbledore did not tell secrets. It didn't seem as if anybody else knew Tom could talk to snakes or had stolen from kids at the orphanage. Dumbledore would keep this conversation private as well.

Tom was just worried the old fool would be smug about it.

"I cam to apologize, Professor," Tom started, still standing near the door.

"Would you like some tea, Tom?" Dumbledore asked, pouring said liquid into a cup before conjuring a second cup for Tom. "And do sit down. I have a feeling this has little to do with your apology which could have waited until Monday."

"Yes, sir," sighed Tom, sitting down in the chair, feeling rather awkward. Like, he supposed, a young boy that was being reprimanded by his father. Except Tom wasn't being reprimanded and Dumbledore was most certainly not his father.

"So what seems to be the problem?" asked Dumbledore. Tom hesitated, perhaps just a bit too long. "Are you and Eleanor having troubles already?"

Tom's back went stiff. His spine fused together and a hiss nearly escaped his lips as he stared at Dumbledore. From very pale lips Tom said, "I don't know what you mean."

"It's quite obvious the two of you have taken a liking to each other," Dumbledore said, taking a sip of his tea. "Why else do you think I am sending you on Eleanor's detention? Though I probably shouldn't have said anything afterwards…"

Tom sat in numb dread. He had meant for this to be a conversation about theory. Not actually about him and Eleanor. Still, he took a deep breath and plunged in. "Sir, you had a family?"

"Certainly, Tom," said Dumbledore, though he now seemed rather perplexed. "My parents, a brother, and a sister."

"And you loved them?"

"Very much." The twinkle had left Dumbledore's eye and he did not seem keen on sharing much more. "What is this about, Tom?"

"How do you think you would have turned out without your family?" Tom asked, fixing his gaze slightly over Dumbledore's shoulder.

"Love is an ingrain part of every living thing, Tom," Dumbledore said in barely more than a whisper. "To be human is to love, to feel heart ache…"

"But if I've never known love how will I be sure if it happens?" Tom asked, feeling rather desperate. And like a young child. This was ridiculous! Tom Riddle was going to be the greatest Dark Wizard there ever was. And here he was talking to Dumbledore about family and love.

"She'll be very special," said Dumbledore and though he didn't smile there was a glint in his eye. "You won't want to be without her, will want to protect her from anything… Have I answered all your questions now? Because I think it's almost time for your detention."

"Yes, sir," said Tom, getting to his feet and not arguing about who's detention it was. It hardly felt like a detention anymore. "Thank you sir…"

He started to walk away when Dumbledore spoke up again. "And Tom…" Tom stopped, hand on the door handle, and looked back. "I won't tell anybody. But keep in mind your very good _friends_ also make very bad enemies…"

Tom gave a nod before striding out of Dumbledore office and hurrying down to the Entrance Hall. It was nearly eight. He had spent all day working up the courage to speak to Dumbledore. He wondered if he had any left over to face Eleanor again.

///

Her essay wasn't finished. She hadn't talked to Minerva, but that was mostly by choice. Eleanor found solitude on the grounds after she had dumped her abandoned schoolwork in her dormitory, a solitude she needed desperately. What was wrong with her? She leaned against a tree at the edge of the forest, and just let herself cry a little. It wasn't weakness. It wasn't sadness. She had so many emotions built up in her, she had to let them out.

Fear. Pain. Confusion. Embarrassment. Illusion. Solitude. Love. Hate. Stress.

Ella had never battled anything like this before. And all for someone she hardly knew. Already she felt herself growing attached to the boy that had done her a small favor in the dead of night. But why? What had he done to make her feel like this? She _didn't know him_. At all. She was being over-emotional, she knew it. That was her problem. But whether or not she knew she was blowing it out of proportion, she still couldn't shake that odd feeling in her chest. It was at the same time growing and constricting, and it was painful.

"Cooper?"

Eleanor looked up, wiping the two or three tears that had managed to escape off of her face. "Yes, Professor Kettleburn?" She said calmly. She didn't want to look like a blubbering fool, which she was not. The man was looking down at er with a look that might have been concern.

"You detention is not until tonight, and I would prefer it if you did not get this close to the Forest until then." Ella nodded, and straightened.

"Sorry Professor." She said nothing else, but began to walk away, up towards the castle.

"Eleanor...are you...all right?" She heard the awkward tone in her teacher's voice, and smiled slightly.

She turned to face the man, who rarely ever spoke when it was unnecessary, and replied, "Fine, Professor." She caught his sympathetic look as she turned back around, and guessed that he had thought she was moping about Jaimy. Let him think that. It was easier than trying to explain her current state of mind.

She had around two hours still before she thought it was safe to return to the Forest's border, and she spent that time just walking around the castle, stopping on staircases and random chairs to think for a bit, before moving on. She didn't want to be in any of the usual haunts. Minny would probably be looking for her, and she knew her friend would demand to know why Ella was in such a pensive mood, and she knew with even more certainty thst the one thing she could never do is tell her best friend about any of her thoughts on Tom.

After a while, she noticed most students heading to the Great Hall for dinner, which was her cue to to head out to the Grounds. She had eaten a very quiet lunch earlier, and she wasn't hungry again just yet. Plus, the last thing she needed was to get sick in the Forest due to nerves and a full stomach. She turned from her current path, which would have led her to the dungeons, and headed out into the night air. It was cooler than she had expected, and she shivered slightly. She could go back up for a cloak, but she had no desire to run into anyone on the heavily-trafficked path to the Gryffindor Tower. She would be fine with just her school robes, which she had slipped on over her dress earlier when she had dropped off her books.

As she made her way to the glowing squares that were Ogg's hut, she began to think again on what Tom had said. What should she do? What could she do? It was fairly obvious to her there was no turning back now, not form where the were, but the question was, where were they? Friends? That didn't sound right in Ella's head. Friends played Gobstones with you. Tom was a bit more complicated than that. So what was he to her? What part of her life did he fit into? It was an odd thought, because she had no clue what the answer was. Perhaps time would tell. As she reached the hut, she looked around in the fading light for any sign of Ogg or Tom, and sighed. Time for detention.


End file.
